Andrew Rogers was an improviser. Not in a strict jazz sense, but as someone who accompanied silent films without sheet music, much of what he played was composed spontaneously in response to what was happening on screen.

“The thing about doing silent films," he told Pulp in 2023 for an article about theater organs, "I’ve got the outline in my head, and I’ve got the certain themes, but how I knit it together each time I play it could be different. If I played a film for you now and then played it for you tomorrow, it wouldn’t be exactly the same.”

Rogers was the lead organist at the Michigan Theater, where he had performed since 2008 in addition to other vintage movie houses in the state and elsewhere. He died on November 13. Rodgers was 74 years old. You can read his obituary here.

There will be a memorial concert at the Michigan Theater on December 4, according to Rogers' friend Maria Calabrese, though it's not currently listed on the Marquee Arts website.

You can read Marquee Arts' lovely remembrance of Rogers here, and listen to a short remembrance of him on WEMU. (Update: MLive published a long story about Rogers on November 19.)

Below, you can watch Rogers' virtual concert at the Michigan Theater for Memorial Day 2020, and read his bio:

Rogers' bio from the Rogers Concerts and American Theater Organ Society:

Andrew Rogers is Head Organist at the Michigan Theater in Ann Arbor and previously, was an organist at the Detroit Fox.  Residing in Fenton, Mi., he travels widely accompanying silent films and lecturing on film scoring.  In addition to music, he worked for 17 years at a travel agency doing accounting and 30 years of serving Holy Trinity Ukrainian Orthodox Churches in Dearborn and Saginaw.

Andrew’s musical studies began with the accordion—winning local and national competitions—by playing transcriptions of classical orchestral music. He later appeared in the orchestra for productions of the Theater Department at Michigan State University where he holds his degree, with honors, in Psychology. 

While working at the Wurlitzer factory store in Dearborn, Mi., he sought out the late Fr. James Miller. He studied theater organ techniques with Fr. Jim and accompanied him on his second tour of Australia and Norfolk Island – appearing both in joint concerts and solo engagements.  He furthered his studies with Dr. Marilyn Mason through the Church Organ Studies program. Scholarships from the University of Michigan enabled him to travel on two Historic Organ Tours led by Dr. Mason covering France, Italy, and Switzerland – playing 58 instruments and participating in ten public concerts.

In addition to his theater organ concert and film work, it was in 2003 when Andrew Rogers was invited to play meditation music for a local public program for Japan’s Foundation For Global Harmony. The music so transported its founder, that he asked Andrew to create three meditation CD’s for the Foundation to help raise funds for orphanages, hospitals, vocational schools, etc., for children in SE Asia. It led to trips across the U.S. From New York to Hawaii, along with five trips to Japan and a trip to Myanmar – performing both in solo events, in duet with a noted Japanese violinist, and performances as keyboardist for The Global Harmony Band.