Honing his trade in the U.S., Canada and his native country of Haiti, pianist and composer Jean Prosper is as seasoned a traveler as he is a musician.

This weekend, the man will make southwest Michigan — his “old stomping grounds,” as he puts it — his next destination, as he performs for audiences during the 2017 Dogwood Fine Arts Festival.

Proper will visit Dowagiac as one of the festival’s featured artists, playing some of his original compositions as well as some old classics — with his own twist — during a concert at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Southwestern Michigan College’s Dale A. Lyons Building theater. Tickets for the performance cost $20.

Prosper, the son of a famous Haitian evangelist, grew up surrounded by music. Born in Port-Au-Prince, Prosper moved around the country with his family, often performing at churches where his father delivered sermons, he said.

His father insisted that his children listen to classical and sacred music, with Prosper recalling spending hours listening to albums of moving orchestral pieces. He later taught himself how play guitar, picking up the skill from older teenagers who used to visit the family home, he said.

When he was 10, he decided to further hone his budding musical talents by taking piano lessons, intensifying his relationship with the art form.

“I became obsessed with the piano,” Prosper said. “My parents often yelled at me, telling me to get to bed because I would be up to 1 in the morning practicing. It’s just one of those things you have to love.”

Prosper and his family moved to the U.S. when he was 13, living in Lincoln, Nebraska, where his father studied theology at Union College.

When Prosper was 17, he moved with his family yet again to Montreal, Canada, where he enrolled in Canada’s Royal Conservatory of Music to further his education in music. He also attended Kingsway College, a private college in Oshawa, Ontario, and joined the school’s choir program, with which he performed for audiences across Canada and the U.S.

“It was nice exposure for me, musically,” Prosper said. “It set me up for what was to come.”

It was while living in Montreal where Prosper received his first exposure to jazz, his favorite genre of music.

One day, his girlfriend at the time invited him over to meet her younger sister’s piano teacher, figuring the fellow musicians would hit it off. As it turned out, the woman was the sister of famed Canadian jazz pianist Oscar Peterson.

Soon after their encounter, Prosper delved into the works of the musician, which opened his ears to whole new world of music. Today, Prosper considers Peterson his main influence, along with other jazz legends like Dave Brubeck and Ahmad Jamal, he said.

Prosper later moved back to the U.S., where he studied piano at Andrews University in Berrien Springs. During his time at the school, he frequently visited Dowagiac, he said.

The man has performed at countless venues over the years, and has been a frequent performer at Lake Michigan College’s The Mendel Center. He even performed twice for boxing legend Muhammad Ali.

Due to the musician’s diverse background and education, listeners can expect to listen to vast repertoire of genres, including classical, spiritual and jazz, during Proper’s concert this weekend. While many of the pieces will be ones he composed, he said listeners will likely recognize some classical works thrown in the mix as well — with a little bit of improv from him and the other musicians sharing the stage with him.

“Come out and experience something you will never listen to again,” he said. “It will be a unique experience.”

The 2017 Dogwood Fine Arts Festival kicks off Thursday, and runs through May 20. For a complete schedule of events or to purchase tickets, people may visit dogwoodfinearts.org or call (269) 782-1115.