Kate & Anna McGarrigle

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Kate and Anna McGarrigle, the acclaimed songwriting and folk music duo, first made a name for themselves in Montreal’s thriving folk music scene and went on to record for Warner Bros. Records. They contributed to two of Emmylou Harris's Nonesuch albums and released their own McGarrigle Christmas Hour on Nonesuch in 2005, joined by Harris, Kate’s children Martha and Rufus Wainwright, and Anna’s daughter Lily Lanken. Kate passed away in 2010.

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Kate and Anna McGarrigle, the acclaimed songwriting and folk music duo, were born in Montreal, Quebec, and grew up north of the city in the Laurentian Mountains. Music surrounded the sisters throughout their childhood, including piano lessons with local nuns and family sing-alongs at the piano.

When the sisters returned to Montreal to attend college, they also joined the city’s thriving folk music scene, and other artists soon began performing their songs. This led to an offer from Warner Bros. Records for the sisters to make their eponymous debut album. The McGarrigle sisters went on to released ten records under their own name, and have contributed both their songs and their singing to countless other albums, including the Nonesuch releases Stumble into Grace and All I Intended to Be, from Emmylou Harris.

Harris also joined Kate and Anna on their own Nonesuch release, The McGarrigle Christmas Hour, in 2005, as did Kate’s children Martha and Rufus Wainwright and Anna’s daughter Lily Lanken. It was the sisters' final full-length recording.

Kate McGarrigle died of sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, on January 19, 2010. She had established the Kate McGarrigle Fund in association with McGill University Health Centre, the Jewish General Hospital through the MUHC Foundation, the Cedars Cancer Institute, and Cancer Research UK in order to raise money and awareness for the fight against this disease. For more information and to make a donation in honor of Kate, please visit muhcfoundation.com/kate.

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Latest Release

  • June 25, 2013

    Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle features highlights from three concerts in honor of the late singer-songwriter Kate McGarrigle, held in London, Toronto, and New York. The 2-CD set was produced by Joe Boyd, who curated the concerts, and features performances by Rufus and Martha Wainwright, Anna McGarrigle, Emmylou Harris, Anohni, Norah Jones, Teddy Thompson, and others. The Guardian calls it "glorious." Net proceeds go to the Kate McGarrigle Foundation for sarcoma research.

News

  • October 29, 2014

    In 2005, Nonesuch released The McGarrigle Christmas Hour, an album in which sisters Kate & Anna McGarrigle, their family—including Kate's children, Rufus & Martha Wainwright—and honorary family members, like Emmylou Harris, celebrated the holidays in song. That same year saw the start of a holiday tradition of live Christmas shows starring family and friends. The music-making continues this December with Rufus and Martha Wainwright’s Noël Nights in NYC, with Harris, Cibo Matto, Justin Vivian Bond, Loudon Wainwright, and more, and Montreal. Proceeds go to The Kate McGarrigle Foundation for sarcoma research.

  • February 24, 2014

    The Kate McGarrigle Foundation—a non-profit organization dedicated to raising money in the fight against sarcoma, a rare form of cancer from which Canadian singer/songwriter Kate McGarrigle died in 2010, and to preserving her artistic legacy—has been presented with an initial contribution of $50,000 from sales of the album Sing Me the Songs: Celebrating the Works of Kate McGarrigle. Released in 2013 on Nonesuch Records, Sing Me the Songs features highlights from three concerts held in honor of McGarrigle led by her children—the acclaimed musicians Rufus and Martha Wainwright—and her sister and musical partner Anna McGarrigle in London, Toronto, and New York.

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About Kate & Anna McGarrigle

  • Kate and Anna McGarrigle, the acclaimed songwriting and folk music duo, were born in Montreal, Quebec, and grew up north of the city in the Laurentian Mountains. Music surrounded the sisters throughout their childhood, including piano lessons with local nuns and family sing-alongs at the piano.

    When the sisters returned to Montreal to attend college, they also joined the city’s thriving folk music scene, and other artists soon began performing their songs. This led to an offer from Warner Bros. Records for the sisters to make their eponymous debut album. The McGarrigle sisters went on to released ten records under their own name, and have contributed both their songs and their singing to countless other albums, including the Nonesuch releases Stumble into Grace and All I Intended to Be, from Emmylou Harris.

    Harris also joined Kate and Anna on their own Nonesuch release, The McGarrigle Christmas Hour, in 2005, as did Kate’s children Martha and Rufus Wainwright and Anna’s daughter Lily Lanken. It was the sisters' final full-length recording.

    Kate McGarrigle died of sarcoma, a rare form of cancer, on January 19, 2010. She had established the Kate McGarrigle Fund in association with McGill University Health Centre, the Jewish General Hospital through the MUHC Foundation, the Cedars Cancer Institute, and Cancer Research UK in order to raise money and awareness for the fight against this disease. For more information and to make a donation in honor of Kate, please visit muhcfoundation.com/kate.