Andris Imants Rozukalns, 65, passed away on August 28, 2021. Andris was an accomplished organist and collaborative pianist. Upon graduating from Roosevelt High School, he was awarded a full scholarship from the Des Moines Women's Club to pursue the Bachelor of Performance in Piano. During his music studies at Drake University, he was under the tutelage of Chiu-Ling Lin, piano and Carl Staplin, organ. He completed the Bachelor of Performance in Organ at Kansas University. In 1983, he was a finalist in the Diane Bish International Organ Competition. During the 1986-87 academic year, he studied at the Conservatoire National de Musique in Lyon, France under renown organist and teacher, Louis Robilliard. It was during this time that he was awarded the Prix d'Or in organ performance.



Andris was a prominent artist for Latvian Organists Guild chapters throughout the US, Canada and Latvia. He was awarded the Scholarship for the Artist Diploma in Collaborative Piano at the Cleveland Institute of Music where he studied with Anne Epperson. He earned the Artist Diploma in Accompanying in 1992. At CIM he performed in masterclasses. He was also an accompanist for the Cleveland Institute of Music "Art Song Festival".



Andris pursued doctoral studies in collaborative piano with Eckhart Sellheim at ASU. He held accompanying positions at ASU, the University of Akron, Royal Academy of Dancing Summer School (Poughkeepsie, NY) and University of Mississippi.

In 2001, he founded the piano, viola and flute instrumental trio, La Dolce Music with colleagues, John Kolpitcke and Gay Tatman. More recently, he was the accompanist of Alexander Central High School choral program and Catawba Valley Community Chorus.



Andy is survived by his wife, Thelma Wilms Rozukalns and a son. A Celebration of Life Service was held on September 11, 2021 at First Baptist Church of Hickory, NC. Inurnment followed at Catawba Memorial Park. You may donate in Andy's memory to First Baptist Church music ministry. (Source: ASU Foundation)