On March 21, 2025, Former General Director of the Santa Fe Opera Charles MacKay was arrested.

According to reports, MacKay was accused of propositioning two teenagers for sex.

MacKay will face four felony charges in connection with an incident at a Powell supermarket in which he was suspected of offering two teenage boys an ice cream sandwich and suggesting they perform oral sex on him in his hotel room. The report also noted that the former Director told the teens, who are between 14 and 16 years old, his name was “Carlos Martinez” and after the teen called the police.

Mackay later admitted to having “spoken inappropriately” to two juveniles.

A spokesperson for McKay said, “Mr. MacKay understands the seriousness of the allegations against him.  He has been and will continue to fully cooperate with the legal process. Given serious health issues he has been struggling with, we ask for privacy at this difficult time.”

In a hearing, MacKay told the court he has had no prior run-ins with the law and an unidentified man who claimed to be one of MacKay’s former opera colleagues told the Tribune the allegations were “totally out of character.”

MacKay’s career in opera and arts administration spans more than 50 years, beginning with his first professional role as a musician in the Santa Fe Opera Orchestra. He went on to serve as the General Diretcor of the Santa Fe Opera from 2008 to 2018. Prior to his work wit the Santa Fe Opera, MacKay spent 23 years as the General Director of Opera Theatre of Saint Louis.

Read Related Stories

• New York Philharmonic Board Member & Arts Figure Roy ‘Trey’ Farmer II Arrested

• Conductor Sergey Smbatyan Arrested for Fraud & Suspended from Malta Philharmonic

• Teatro Colón Parts Ways with Jan Latham-Koenig Following Arrest in the U.K.