Biography

With a voice described as having “steely beauty” and a “rich vocal range full of inviting nuance,” Malcolm MacKenzie is quickly capturing attention in the dramatic baritone repertoire. Opera News recently praised him as a "confident, commanding Count di Luna...of robust tone, ardent address, arching phrases and genuine baritonal squillo."

Mr. MacKenzie has been heard at leading opera houses throughout the U.S. and Europe, appearing at the Metropolitan Opera, New York City Opera, the Bastille in Paris, Finland’s Savonlinna Festival, The Washington Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Glimmerglass Opera, San Diego Opera, Arizona Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Nashville Opera, and Pittsburgh Opera, in roles including Iago, Tonio, Simon Boccanegra, Don Giovanni, Count Di Luna, Renato, Jack Rance, Marcello, Germont, and Count Almaviva.

Notable engagements in the 2013-14 season include debuts with Kentucky Opera in the title role of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra, and with Virginia Opera as Jack Rance in La fanciulla del West. Mr. MacKenzie also returns to Nashville Opera as Iago in Otello and to Arizona Opera as Count Di Luna in Il Trovatore. In addition he returns to San Diego Opera as the 2nd Tempter/2nd Knight in Pizzetti's Assassinio nella Cattedrale.

Mr. MacKenzie made his Metropolitan Opera debut in the 2010-11 season as Dancaïre in the new, critically-praised production of Carmen. Later that season, he returned to the Met as Marullo in Rigoletto, as well as appearing as Giorgio Germont in La traviata for Opera Santa Barbara and Count Di Luna in Il trovatore for Fort Worth Opera. Mr. MacKenzie returned to the Metropolitan Opera as Dancaïre in the Fall of 2012.

Other recent performances include La traviata with the Glimmerglass Opera, where Opera News described him as “a stentorian Germont, singing with a steely beauty that matched the character's resolve;” Il Trovatore with Arizona Opera, where ConcertoNet.com described him as "a strong and incisive Conte di Luna, combining the elegance and the legato of a true Verdian baritone.;" Count Di Luna for Fort Worth Opera's Il Trovatore; Count Almaviva for Sacramento Opera's Le nozze di Figaro; Sharpless in Madama Butterfly for San Diego Opera; the baritone soloist for Horatio Parker's rarely performed Hora Novissima with the Pacific Master Chorale; and Beethoven's Ninth Symphony with the Reno Philharmonic.

On the concert stage, Mr. MacKenzie has performed frequently as the baritone soloist for Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana, most recently with Los Angeles’ New West Symphony, the Symphony Orchestra of the University of California, Davis and the Savannah Symphony. The UC Davis performance is available on YouTube and has received nearly 10 million hits. He has also appeared with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Pacific Chorale, the Los Angeles Mozart Orchestra, and the Madison Symphony.

Malcolm MacKenzie