Marie McCarthy is Professor of Music Education at the University of Michigan. Prior to this position, she was on the faculty of the University of Maryland from 1990 to 2006. She teaches courses on general music, history and sociology of music education, and research methods in music education. Her primary area of inquiry is historical, with emphasis on music education in social and cultural context. She has written two books, Passing It On: The Transmission of Music in Irish Culture, and Toward a Global Community: A History of the International Society for Music Education, 1953-2003, authored several book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has presented keynote addresses internationally. 

She served on numerous editorial boards, and since 2015 she has been Editor of the Journal of Historical Research in Music Education. Other offices she has held include National Chair of the History Special Research Interest Group of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME), and membership of the NAfME Music Education Research Council. She was Chair of the History Standing Committee of the International Society for Music Education, and is an Honorary Life Member of the Society for Music Education in Ireland (SMEI) and the International Society for Music Education (ISME).