MacKay, a French horn player, joined the orchestra of the Santa Fe Opera at age 17. He was a volunteer with Santa Fe Opera at age 15, and began to work in administrative capacities with SFO at age 18. He worked at SFO as an orchestra librarian, in the business office and painting stage scenery. Subsequently with SFO, MacKay also held several administrative positions, including box office manager, assistant orchestra manager and business manager, the last position for 4 years.
Spoleto Festival
After leaving Santa Fe, his other administrative positions include a 6-year tenure as director of finance and administration for the Spoleto Festival USA, from 1978 to 1984. For 5 years, he was the manager for the American artists at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy.
Opera Theatre of Saint Louis
In 1984, MacKay became executive director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, recruited to the post by OTSL's first general directorRichard Gaddes. In 1985, MacKay was named OTSL's second general director. During his tenure, MacKay presided over the growth of OTSL's endowment from USD $682,000 to $18 million, and maintained the company's record of never posting a deficit. He also raised funds for the construction of the Sally S. Levy Opera Center, the company's first permanent administrative facility, which was completed in 2006.
In November 2007, SFO named MacKay as its third general director, succeeding Richard Gaddes and John Crosby. He concluded his OTSL tenure on 30 September 2008, and began his tenure as SFO general director on 1 October of that year. His immediate challenges were financial, in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. In 2010 and subsequent seasons, MacKay has brought several significant works to Santa Fe which had never been performed there. They included The Tales of Hoffmann, Faust, and in 2012 alone, The Pearl Fishers, Rossini's Maometto II and Karol Szymanowski's King Roger. In 2013, Rossini's La donna del lago received its Santa Fe premiere in a co-production with the Metropolitan Opera. The 2014 season saw the first Santa Fe production of Beethoven's Fidelio. Additionally, MacKay's tenure has been characterized by working in collaboration with several opera companies across the United States on co-productions, some of which have been US or world premieres of new operas. In addition to the Met, these companies have included Minnesota Opera and Opera Philadelphia. SFO presented five world premieres during MacKay's tenure, including Cold Mountain by Jennifer Higdon and The evolution of Steve Jobs by Mason Bates. MacKay was responsible for the recruitment first of Frédéric Chaslin, and later Harry Bicket, to the post chief conductor of the company. In August 2017, Santa Fe Opera announced MacKay's intention to step down as its general director after the 2018 season. In October 2018, Robert K. Meya began his tenure as general director of the company.
