Hello there!
In my previous post, I mentioned that all I had left to do was submit the documents to the Organist School. And that’s exactly what I did.
On Saturday, June 21 at 5:00 PM, I had my meeting with the Director of the School. The documents were reviewed – everything was in order, so the first step is done. The Director also told me about the history of the School, how the classes are structured, and how students are evaluated. Everything was explained clearly and with passion – it’s obvious this place has a soul.
But… that’s not the end.
Before I can be officially accepted – there’s one more thing: the entrance exam.
Date: September 20, 9:00 AM
Since I’m starting with what’s called the “zero year”, some of the requirements don’t apply to me – for example, piano playing (interesting fact: during the exam, it’s not enough to play a hymn from memory – the jury points to a random spot in the sheet music, and you have to start from there!).
What I’ll be expected to do instead:
- repeat (sing) a melody,
- repeat (clap out) a rhythm,
- and perform one liturgical hymn a cappella – just one verse is enough.
And here I realized something important: although I sing as a bass, when it comes to liturgical singing, it’s not about my voice part – it’s about the melody sung by the congregation. So I need to brush up on classic “church” melodies – and that’s not always as straightforward as it might seem.
Okay, but… how much does this all cost?
- the exam itself – 100 PLN,
- tuition – 170 PLN per month.
So roughly speaking, the annual cost comes out to about 1,500 PLN (give or take – depending on the number of months, the schedule, etc.).
Now ahead of me is choosing the hymn for the presentation. Wish me luck!
See you in the next posts!
M.
