He moved to New York City in 2003 and lives in Brooklyn.

[1] Macdonald has a background in sound design and draws inspiration from this in his work.

[2] In 2015 he won a Peabody Award for his work on the show Meet The Composer at WQXR[3] and was the Technical Director of The Open Ears Project from WNYC Studios that was named one of The Best 50 Podcasts of 2019 from the Atlantic Magazine[4] that was also Nominated for Best Music Podcast[5] and Honored for Best Series[6] in the 24th Annual Webby Awards.

To date he has composed original scores for Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater,[7] Aszure Barton,[8] Kate Weare Company[9] and Hubbard Street Dance Chicago[10] among others.

[11] Macdonald's work caught the attention of Pulitzer prize winner Henry Threadgill and in 2016 Macdonald was a soloist on Old Locks and Irregular Verbs, an album in tribute to Lawrence D. "Butch" Morris[12] In 2013, Macdonald authored Introducing Extended Saxophone Techniques published by Mel Bay.