Rufus Wainwright Announces New Brunswick Dates

Grammy Award nominee and multiple JUNO Award winner Rufus Wainwright embarks on his first Maritime tour this fall.

Praised by the New York Times for his “genuine originality,” Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists, composers, and songwriters of his generation.  The New York-born, Montreal-raised singer songwriter has released eight studio albums, three DVDs, and three live albums, including the Grammy nominated Rufus Does Judy at Carnegie Hall, which captured his celebrated Judy Garland tribute performance at the London Palladium in 2007, and the album Release The Stars which went Gold in Canada and the U.K.

Wainwright has received JUNO Awards for Best Alternative Album in 1999 and 2002 for Rufus Wainwright and Poses, respectively, and nominations for his albums Want Two (2005) and Release the Stars (2008). He was nominated for Songwriter of the Year in 2008 for his Release the Stars album. He also composed the original music for choreographer Stephen Petronio’s work BLOOM which has toured across the country.

Musically, Wainwright has collaborated with artists including Elton John, David Byrne, Boy George, Joni Mitchell, Pet Shop Boys, Robbie Williams, and producer Mark Ronson, among others.

In addition to being a celebrated contemporary pop singer, Wainwright has made a name for himself in the classical world. His much acclaimed first opera, titled Prima Donna, premiered at the Manchester International Festival in July 2009. The opera was subsequently performed in London at Sadler’s Wells in April 2010, in Toronto at the Luminato Festival in June 2010 and at the Brooklyn Academy of Music’s Howard Gilman Opera House in February 2012. Now fully established as a composer of operas, Wainwright has been commissioned by the Canadian Opera Company to write his second opera based on the story of the Roman Emperor Hadrian and Antinous.