Affectionately referred to by Elton John as "the greatest songwriter on the planet" and praised by The New York Times for his "genuine originality," Rufus Wainwright has established himself as one of the great male vocalists and songwriters of his generation. He is the son of folk singers Loudon Wainwright III and Kate McGarrigle, and brother of Martha Wainwright but Rufus has achieved his success by carving out his own singular sound in the worlds of rock, opera, theater, dance and film.Wainwright's much acclaimed first opera, titled "Prima Donna," premiered at the Manchester International Festival in July 2009 and will make its North American debut in Toronto at the Luminato Festival in June 2010. The New York Times said, "There are inspired touches and disarmingly beautiful passages in this mysterious, stylistically eclectic work in Rufus Wainwright's first opera..." The London Times declared, "...the Canadian singer-songwriter hasn't just written an opera. He's written a love song to opera, soaked in the perennial operatic themes of loss, betrayal, delusion and nostalgia, and saturated in the musical styles of opera's golden age."He has composed a musical adaptation of Shakespeare Sonnets with noted Director Robert Wilson at the Berliner Ensemble which premiered in April of 2009 and continues to play to sold out houses.Wainwright has released six albums and two DVDs to date, and has appeared on numerous soundtracks and compilations, as well as collaborating with artists like Elton John, David Byrne, Rosanne Cash and Keane. Rufus' last album was a live recording from his Carnegie Hall concert titled, Rufus Does Judy At Carnegie Hall and it was nominated for a Grammy. It was released concurrently with a live DVD (Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy!) capturing his celebrated Judy Garland tribute performance at the London Palladium in 2007. His previous album, Release The Stars, went Gold in Canada and the U.K. After his successful global tour in support of Release The Stars, Decca is proud to release the eagerly anticipated new live CD/DVD Milwaukee at Last!!! in stores September 22nd. Containing a 10-track CD and DVD boasting 23 songs, Milwaukee At Last!!! was filmed by the legendary documentary film maker Albert Maysles at the Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on August 27th 2007. 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.In addition to Rufus' musical pursuits, he has also made his mark onscreen.  He has acted in Academy Award winning director Deny Arcand's film, L'Âge des Ténèbres (2007), the Merchant Ivory film Heights (2005), and the major blockbuster The Aviator (2004) directed by Martin Scorsese. At age 14 he composed and sang a song in the film, Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller, which earned him a nomination for a 1989 Genie Award (Canada) for Best Original Song and a Juno Award for Most Promising Male Vocalist of the Year in 1990.