Mary MacKenzie is the recipient of both the coveted Naumburg Award and first place national award of The Metropolitan Opera Auditions. Among her other honors she received The Sullivan Award and was twice selected for a Martha Baird Rockefeller grant.

She has performed as guest soloist with many of the country's symphony orchestras and music festivals including the Bach Festivals in Bethlehem, PA and Carmel, CA. She has presented recitals throughout the United States and in England. Her debut recital in New York’s Town Hall was with Paul Ulanowsky and Gerald Moore was the pianist for her London debut in Wigmore Hall. Igor Stravinsky chose her to sing the role of Jocasta in "Oedipus Rex" under his baton in Santa Fe and Aaron Copland invited her to sing the role of The Mother in "The Tender Land" when he conducted his opera in Tanglewood. Besides her performances with the Metropolitan Opera she has sung with the Chicago Lyric, Dallas, New Orleans, NBC and San Diego Opera Companies.

Ms. MacKenzie is Founder and Co-Chair of the Community Council for Music in the Schools, an organization dedicated to restoring music to the San Diego City School’s curriculum. She has been a member of the music faculty at SDSU for more than 20 years and currently heads the vocal pedagogy program. She was listed in "Who's Who in California" for 1989 and 1990 and she was selected "Outstanding Professor of the Music Department at San Diego State University" in 1990 and again in 1997. While teaching at SDSU she also taught simultaneously for several years at the Conservatorio Estatal de Musica in Tijuana. Ms. MacKenzie is often  asked to present master classes and to serve as adjudicator for vocal competitions throughout the West. She has been elected to serve as an officer in district, state and regional offices of the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS). She most recently completed a five year term as a National Vice-President and was Chair of the national convention in San Diego in July 2002. In 2001 she was selected as one of four nationally selected master teachers to teach in the NATS’ Intern program for young teachers. She has been honored by the San Diego Press Club for her work on behalf of music education and by the San Diego-Edinburgh Sister City Society for her work in advancing goodwill between people of the United States and people of other countries. She is a national honorary member of Sigma Alpha Iota. Many of her students are singing professionally or teaching in institutions of higher learning.

Her students have won many prizes in vocal competitions including Musical Merit, The Metropolitan Opera Auditions, La Jolla Symphony and Chorus Auditions, The Goodwin Foundation, NATS , Sweet Adelines and Virginia Hawk. She has had numerous students go on to graduate school following graduation from SDSU. Many of these have received scholarships from Juilliard, Manhattan School of Music, New England Conservatory, Oberlin  and USC.

TEACHING EXPERIENCE

San Diego State University, San Diego, CA 1971-present
Columbia University, New York, New York 2004
Master Teachers for young teachers for NATS Summer Intern Program 2002
Conservatorio Estatal de Musica, Tijuana, Mexico 1998-2002
University of California, San Diego 1998
United States International University, San Diego, CA 1966-1971

JUDGE / ADJUDICATOR

Numerous competitions throughout the West  

SAMPLING of PROFESSIONAL PERFORMANCES:

RECITALS
Town Hall, New York City (Paul Ulanowsky, pianist)
Wigmore Hall, London, England (Gerald Moore, Pianist)
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Gardner Museum, Boston

Solo Engagements: Oratorio and Orchestral
Bethlehem Bach Festival, Bach “B minor Mass”
Boston Symphony, Bruckner “Te Deum”
Omaha Symphony, Verdi “Requiem”
The Salt Lake Oratorio Society, Handel “Messiah”

OPERA

Metropolitan Opera “La Gioconda” La Cieca (with Zinka Milanov)
Dallas Opera “La Traviata” Flora (with Maria Callas)
NBC Opera “Madama Butterfly” Suzuki

Santa Fe Opera “Oedipus Rex” Jocasta (Stravinsky conducting)

HONORS & AWARDS:

Metropolitan Opera Auditions, 1st place national winner
Walter W. Naumburg Award
Martha Baird Rockefeller Award (twice)
Sullivan Award
New Orleans Opera Award
New York Singing Teachers’ Award
YMHA Young Artist Award
WHOM “Stars of Tomorrow”
National Federations of Music Clubs Award
Bayreuth Scholarship
Alice Breen Memorial Prize at Juilliard graduation
Boston Symphony Tanglewood Scholarship
Juilliard Scholarship

Professional Memberships:

National Association of Teachers of Singing
Founding member of San Diego Chapter
Served as:District Governor: 4 years
Regional Governor: 4 years
National Vice President for Membership: 5 years
Chair of National Convention in 2002
2006 elected Vice President of the Board of the NATS Foundation
Founder and Co-Chair of Community Council for Music in the Schools

Civic Honors:

San Diego Press Club: promoting music education in the San Diego Public Schools
Sister Cities International: promoting friendship between Scotland and San Diego
Conservatorio Estatal de Musica: excellence of teaching in Mexico
Girl Scouts: working with San Diego youth

Outstanding Teacher of the SDSU Music Department (twice)