Concert by Rufus and Martha Wainwright | Christmas According to the Wainwright-McGarrigles

The arrival of December heralds the return of the traditional Christmas pageant hosted by Rufus and Martha Wainwright. The concert stars and you will bring together this Saturday the Wainwright-McGarrigle family and several guest artists, including Hubert Lenoir, Klô Pelgag and Isabelle Boulay. The Press spoke with Rufus Wainwright.

The moment promises to be “very emotional”, tells us the interpreter of Going to a Town on the phone. Rufus Wainwright is at his residence in Los Angeles when we contact him. Because he is always very busy, the Montrealer now established on the American west coast has not yet returned to the city where he grew up for the show stars and youorganized by his sister Martha and he to benefit the Kate McGarrigle Foundation.

But it’s almost intentional. “We don’t rehearse a lot. We want to bring back the concept where we invite people into our living room, he says. The public comes to relax with us. It’s very natural. We want it to stay free and funky. »

Rufus Wainwright recalls that it’s the return of their in-person Christmas show, as they held an “utterly lovely” virtual event during the pandemic. “After the three years that we have just lived, it will be a special evening, he adds. Getting together for the holiday season is a particularly important time. »

The meeting will take place with the public, but also within the Wainwright-McGarrigle family. The concert is an opportunity for the clan to get together, since some of the members live outside Quebec, but the core remains in Montreal.

“It makes me particularly sentimental because I live in Los Angeles now and we don’t really have winter,” Rufus says. Because it’s so early in the month, the show not only marks Christmas or Hanukkah, but also the arrival of winter, such a strong moment in Montreal. »

A concert for all

To mark this highlight as it should be, Rufus and Martha called on Hubert Lenoir, Klô Pelgag, Isabelle Boulay, Socalled, Beyries and Melissa Auf Der Maur. A heterogeneous group that will allow unusual collaborations on stage – “it’s going to be interesting”, laughs Rufus Wainwright on the phone, indicating that the duos have already been formed.

“It’s really a concert for everyone, in which we bring to life this spirit of unity which is so necessary at this time”, he explains.

For the legacy of Kate McGarrigle

The tradition of the Wainwright-McGarrigle clan’s Christmas shows began in 2005. Kate McGarrigle, mother of Rufus and Martha, brought her family together for these concerts, as an excuse to have them all with her for the holidays.

Until 2009, she participated in the show every year. The last stage presence of the singer-songwriter was during one of these Christmas concerts, at the Royal Albert Hall in London, in front of 5,000 people, a month before her death from cancer.

After the artist family matriarch passed away in 2010, her children and her sister, Anna, kept the tradition alive. To honor him and to make his legacy last, in particular through the foundation that bears his name.

When she was diagnosed with sarcoma in 2007, Kate McGarrigle set up a research fund, now the Kate McGarrigle Foundation. Christmas shows are now a source of funding for the organization. A portion of the profits raised through the show goes to research and another is allocated to a music therapy project.

“People suffering from cancer can benefit from a little money to have access to a studio and record music”, explains Rufus Wainwright.

“It’s something that helped our mother a lot at the end of her life, to focus on her art, to get lost in composition. It prepared her for the journey ahead. »

The concert stars and youwith the Wainwright-McGarrigles and their guests, will be presented at Saint-Jean-Baptiste Church, this Saturday, December 3, at 8 p.m.