Wainwrights rock the Royal Albert Hall for Cancer Research UK

Three members of one of the world’s musical dynasties will join a host of celebrities for a festive musical extravaganza at the Royal Albert Hall on Wednesday (9th).

Rufus Wainwright, sister Martha and their mother singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle are throwing A Not So Silent Night in aid of Cancer Research UK.

Joining them on stage will be comediennes French & Saunders, plus singers Boy George, Guy Garvey, The Thompsons, Ed Harcourt and Jenni Muldaur as well as human beatbox Shlomo.

There will also be a performance by international soprano Janis Kelly, star of Rufus’s opera Prima Donna.

The gig has an extra poignancy because Kate is currently in treatment for cancer.

Rufus said: “This will be an off-the-cuff evening of friends and family kind of popping on and off stage as if the stage was our living room.”

The gig will echo the bi-annual Wainwright/McGarrigle Carnegie Hall show which has become an established part of the Christmas calendar in New York.

The New York Times has called the show an “enactment of a family gathering: motley, full of overlapping agendas, a little sentimental, a little fractious but harmonious in the end.”

Proceeds will be divided between Cancer Research UK and the Kate McGarrigle Fund, a non-profit organisation dedicated to cancer care and research in Canada.

A limited number of exclusive A Not So Silent Night VIP Packages are available. They include excellent seats for the concert, entry to an intimate post-show cocktail party with the performers, and unique gift bags. These can be obtained by making a donation of £500.