Marie’s musical style integrates elements of jazz, soul, blues and gospel. Her performances include powerful interpretations of old standards as well as stirring original compositions. Although she did not embark on a professional career until the age of 42, her performances reveal the resilience and energy of a survivor; she often explains that the strength she found in music helped her to leave an abusive marriage. “I don’t know how to do it except to draw from my life experience,” she recently told the publication JazzTimes, discussing her creative process.

Since 1996, she has received critical acclaim from major U.S. publications, including the Los Angeles Times, the Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune. In 2009, the National Public Radio program “All Songs Considered” offered that “Marie is one of the rare artists today who invites comparison with Civil Rights-era singers Nina Simone and Abbey Lincoln.” She has appeared as the headliner at major festivals, such as the Kennedy Center’s prestigious Women in Jazz Festival, the Edinburgh Jazz Festival in Scotland and the Shanghai Jazz Festival in China. She has also received several prestigious awards, including Best International Jazz Vocal CD by the Académie Du Jazz, the oldest and most independent awards organization in France.

As part of the Cultural Events Series Arts for Enrichment program, Marie will present a free educational session before the performance. The free interactive session, in which Marie will discuss her career in the music industry, takes place at 4:30 p.m. in Windsor Hall.

Tickets are $20 for adults and $14 for youth under 17. Corporate and group discount rates are also available.

For more information, contact the Cultural Events Series box office at 301-687-3137 or visit CES’s webpage at ces.frostburg.edu.

The Cultural Events Series is sponsored in part by the Allegany Arts Council with funds from the Maryland State Arts Council, and is supported by a grant from MSAC, an agency dedicated to cultivating a vibrant cultural community where the arts thrive. An agency of the Department of Business and Economic Development, MSAC provides financial support and technical assistance to nonprofit organizations, units of government, colleges and universities for arts activities. Funding for MSAC is also provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Situated in the mountains of Allegany County, Frostburg State University is one of the 12 institutions of the University System of Maryland. FSU is a comprehensive, residential regional university and serves as an educational and cultural center for Western Maryland. For more information, visit www.frostburg.edu or facebook.com/frostburgstateuniversity.