David and MacKenzie and Terry Wolkowicz are co-founders of Sound Explorations, a 501c3 nonprofit organization that uses music as a means to communicate key scientific concepts in marine science, ecology, and conservation.
David MacKenzie’s career spans more than forty years as a conductor, educator, composer, and arranger. He has guest conducted orchestras across the United States and internationally and his permanent positions have included Music Director of the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra in Massachusetts, Music Director of Mastersingers by the Sea in Massachusetts, and Artistic Director of Rogue Opera in Oregon. In 1994 he was invited by the government of Colombia to become the Music Director of the National Symphonic Band of Colombia, a professional wind ensemble.
Dr. MacKenzie received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Tennessee in 1974, a Master of Music, Master of Musical Arts, and Doctor of Musical Arts from Yale University in 1976, 1977, and 1983 respectively. In 2011, he received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth.
For more than two decades Terry Wolkowicz has been designing innovative integrated arts educational curricula. Her background includes 15 years as a public and private school music educator, and Education Director for the New Bedford Symphony Orchestra. As an author, she has written articles about concept-based arts integration published in the Music Educators Journal, the A.Z.A.’s Connect Magazine, Polyphonic.org (Eastman School of Music Paul R. Judy Center for Applied Research) and Musicovation.
In 2014 she was chosen as a Myra Kraft Community MVP Award winner by the New England Patriots Foundation. In 2016, the Learning in Concert program received the Excellence in Education Award from the Goldin Foundation and the Massachusetts Secretary's Award for Excellence in Energy and Environmental Education.
Terry received her bachelor’s degree in music education from the New England Conservatory of Music and a master’s degree in education from Harvard University.