Since 1998 Rufus Wainwright has been an acclaimed singer-songwriter. Amassing a long list of well-crafted pop songs along with an opera, the American born, Montreal raised performer brings his songs to Alberta this week with 2 shows. The first, on January 13^th at the Jubilee Auditorium sees Wainwright join the Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra on stage.

"What is going on in Calgary is focused on my wide, varied and complicated career path. Whether it's threw opera or pop music or show tunes I've really needed to explore all the sounds available to a little white boy from Quebec. Now is a time where I can put a show together with an orchestra and really express those different facets which have taken years to create," Wainwright told GayCalgary over the phone on a rainy day in California. Adding orchestration to pop music is an extensive process. "I orchestrate my operas and for my pop work I have done some of the orchestration work but I have a fabulous Orchestrator. It really varies. In terms of pop music when I am in that realm I really focus on being the front man mostly. I've produced my albums and am used to working in the studio but once I am on stage I just want to be that sick singer. When I write my operas I seem to be more into the orchestration."

Wainwright has done shows with Orchestras before such as Chicago, Madrid and in London.

"The interesting thing about it is for performers like me who are well known but don't necessarily sell millions of albums and can't afford to go out with a whole troop it is a nice symbiotic relationship. A lot of the orchestras are seeking new material and audiences and branching out. By the same token I have to diversify my portfolio in order to survive. We both need each other which is great. It is very mystical. You can't quite tell what's happening but you know what's going on. I swear to god sometimes I can hear the individual string players and envision it in my subconscious. It is a strange kind of 4th dimension that when things are working out you kind of walk around in it. It is the beauty of over 20 people making music together on stage and all those souls unite. When you have a few people that are laying some eggs it can turn into one of the most horrifying experiences."

Wainwright then returns to Edmonton at the Myer Horowitz Theatre for a solo show January 14th. It will be a very different concert which speaks to his versatility as a performer and songwriter.

"It is very different. I haven't played Calgary or Edmonton for a long time so either way it's great to be back. One could conceivably see me with the orchestra in Calgary and then hop up to Edmonton and see the solo show. It will be just me a piano and a guitar in Edmonton. It comes very naturally to me the concept of being up on stage alone playing your instrument and singing your songs. It's what my parents did and my sisters do. It is very real. I am struck when I really examine the situation by how few artists do that. Especially these days. In the 1970's it was more common for singer-songwriters to go out and do their thing alone but now it is very rare. I am just keeping the tradition going. You are going to get a rundown of all I have been up to these many years, which now seem like nothing. It all goes by so quickly. I am happy I have something to offer and you are going to see it."

A lot has happened in Rufus Wainwright’s life in the last few years. His mother Kate McGarrigle passed away in 2010. That year Wainwright became engaged to Jorn Weisbrodt whom he married in 2012. On February 2nd, 2011 he announced the birth of his daughter Viva with Lorca Cohen. Being the father to Leonard Cohen’s granddaughter is an interesting twist, as Wainwright’s version of Hallelujah remains a staple in his concerts. He has commented at times that the song which became popular on the Shrek film soundtrack has become overdone. With hundreds of interpretations out there, Wainwrights remains one of the best.

"Hallelujah... even Leonard feels it is over performed. At this point one cannot deny that it has an incredible resilience. I am always blown away by the reaction that it engenders. You've got to hand it to Hallelujah in the end."

Wainwright’s daughter turns 5 in a few weeks. Wainwright has cut back on touring to focus on being a co-parent.

"It's been amazing. It is completely surreal and rewarding in the most mysterious way. You can't really quantify what's going on. It has been incredible and the most important thing I am doing in my life. I am working on a new opera called Hadrian which is about the emperor of Rome (which will debut in 2018.) Because I can't tour when I am writing an opera you have to be in one place and focused, it allows me to stay home or visit my daughter in Los Angeles. Its funny I tell people that I write operas so I can take time off," he said, adding a new pop album – his first since 2012’s Out of the Game is also in the works. "One of the perks of working on the opera is I get sick of it and go back and start writing pop songs again. There is a whole treasure trove of new material I have been depositing in a secret compartment that in a year or two will be unleashed on the kids."

Canadians often have an interesting dynamic between their music and personalities. Artists like Jann Arden, Dallas Green, Michael Buble and many others pepper their often intense and emotional music with a wicked sense of humor. Wainwright is the same. A Funny or Die video that features him promoting a concert of entirely gum jingles gives an idea of his sense of humor which is very much a part of his live shows.

"I think because I write such lugubrious material what I put fourth requires a lot of attention and is emotionally draining. I like to temper that with a ridiculous quality so that is why I put that in my shows. I will be singing about the depressing nature of the United States and then pepper that with jokes about Newfoundland. I like to mix it up."

Rufus Wainwright has experienced a lot in life, which in turn is transmitted to his music.

"I have always been one to demand the bigger experiences that life has to offer. At this point I have been through almost all of them. There is one left I have to go through that I am not looking forward to and that is death. But otherwise marriage, losing a parent, becoming a professional musician... I wanted a big life and I got one."

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