Mark McKenzie graduated with a Masters and Doctorate in Music Composition from the University of Southern California studying with composers such as Pierre Boulez and Witold Lutoslawski. After briefly teaching at USC, he turned his interest towards film and began composing and orchestrating a wide variety of original scores.

Mark's musical voice is expressive and diverse. Critics mention Mark's "gift for 'ravishing melodies', describing the music as: "soul-stirring, and powerful". "magical" and "full of celebration, emotion, and deep sentiment".

Mark's music has been extensively released on compact disc and is repeatedly utilized everywhere from the Olympics to the Academy Awards. He has assisted and been mentored by composers such as Jerry Goldsmith, Danny Elfman, 'John Williams', John Barry and Alan Silvestri. His orchestrations have been heard in Academy Award nominated scores such as The Patriot (2000), Danza con lobos (1990), Men in Black (1997) and Mente indomable (1997).