Marie A. Douglas

Marie Douglas’ League Commission will be premiered by the Fresno Philharmonic.

Additional Performances TBD

Marie got her start in the artistic and culturally rich streets in the inner city of Atlanta. Her style reflects that relationship and proximity to “The Culture” and the unique perspective that it affords her. After high school, she attended the Historically Black College and University (HBCU) Florida A&M University and participated in the famed Marching “100” band. This period further inspired Marie to infuse attributes of her favorite musical genres and cultural staples into her creations intended for concert ensembles.

Douglas’ compositions have included spirituals, body percussion, spoken word, electronic samples, and tons of other elements of sound—often combining the sonic phenomena of the African Diaspora with winds and/or strings and percussion. Lately she has explored the fusion of hip-hop and its sub-genre trap music, a genre that has its roots in Atlanta, with western art music idioms.

A variety of well-known ensembles have worked with Marie and performed her music, including the Albany Symphony’s Dogs of Desire, University of Central Florida Symphonic Band, University of Alabama-Birmingham Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band, California All-State Wind Symphony, University of the Pacific Conservatory, and many others. In addition to symphonic and chamber works, her catalogue also includes music for film as well as hip-hop and R&B instrumentals.

Recent projects include: serving as arranger, composer, conductor and musical director of the Live Nation/Big Femme Energy Live Experience Tour featuring Ambre, Baby Rose, SayGrace and Teyana Taylor; premiering her new flute concerto in collaboration with conductor Erin Bodnar and flutist Sarah Jane Young, which was selected to be included on a compilation CD released by the University of North Florida Wind Symphony; and premiering her work for symphonic band centering teen mental health, titled “I am Enough,” by the California All-State Wind Ensemble in Fresno, California. Additionally, Marie served as the 2023 Jemison Visiting Scholar in the Humanities and Composer in Residence at the University of Alabama-Birmingham and contributed arrangements to the 2022 Grammy Award-Nominated album “Full Circle.”

Performances in the 2023-24 season included world premieres with the University of Georgia Wind Ensemble and the United States Navy Band in Washington D.C. for “SOUL Suite No. 1,” a new piece for wind ensemble, as well as a collaboration with the United States Army Soldiers’ Chorus of Washington, DC on a work tilted “Umoja in America.”

Marie serves as an adjunct professor within the Master of Music Technology Program at Southern Utah University, where she was awarded the 2022 Influencer Award by the Division of Student Affairs and Professional Development Center. She earned her Doctor of Musical Arts in composition and conducting from the University of Memphis, where she studied with Kamran Ince, Mahir Cetiz, and Albert Nguyen.

More from Marie

Photo courtesy of Marie A. Douglas.