Opera singer Jamie Barton took to the stage waving a Pride flag during her rendition of Rule Britannia at the Last Night of the Proms.
In a daring departure from the patriotic flag-waving tradition of the Proms, many audience members waved EU flags and wore blue berets as the show got under way at the Royal Albert Hall.
The American mezzo-soprano, who is a self-professed “queer girl with a nose ring”, said her mission was to “unify the audience”.
She told the BBC: “It’s not just queer pride, it’s a connective celebration of people being exactly who they are and loving who they are. And I’m honoured to get to lead that.”
Wearing a gown featuring the colours of the bisexual flag – lavender, pink and blue – Ms Barton also sang Judy Garland’s gay anthem “Somewhere over the Rainbow”.
‘My outfit will be a celebration of who I am’
In an interview with The Times in July, the opera singer said : “It takes a step beyond just being a pretty dress”
“My outfit will be a very deliberate celebration of who I am. It puts out a message about bi-visibility that I feel needs more support. I would love for this to become an iconic Last Night of the Proms look.”
Commenting on the Ms Barton’s performance, Radio 3’s Petroc Trelawney said: “We are witnessing something rather remarkable. “That moment an audience falls in love with a singer.”
While conductor Sakari Omaro added: “There was a wave of love and acceptance and appreciation.”
Their opinions were echoed by those of the audience who took to Twitter to praise the singer, with one saying the performance “brought me to tears”.
Jamie Barton is now the actual Queen. Change all the banknotes and stamps. Prepare her room at Buck house. https://t.co/AebG6Ikb33
— Benedict Nelson (@ennobledinsect) September 14, 2019
EU flags and Jamie Barton waving a Pride flag singing Rule Britannia.
And gammons are losing it.
Just magnificent.
?????️?#LastNightOfTheProms#ThankEUForTheMusic pic.twitter.com/O9dAHVhE07— Teeta (@anitamassey86) September 14, 2019
I don’t mind saying but Jamie Barton’s performance of Somewhere Over the Rainbow just actually brought me to tears
that was beautiful#bbcproms #LastNightOfTheProms— James Blackwell (@WritingBblUnvrs) September 14, 2019
Ms Barton, who first rose to fame in the Cardiff’s 2013 Singer of the World competition, came out as bisexual on Twitter in 2014 on National Coming Out Day in 2014.
An outspoken campaigner for gay rights, she told The Guardian earlier this month: “Bisexuality is too often seen as fake. And if you date someone of the opposite sex, it’s as if you’re straight again. Neither is the case for me.
“Bisexuals are at high risk of abuse, depression, anxiety, suicide. It’s a personal calling for me to be who I am in a loud way.”
Music is a ‘universal language’
Prior to the concert, activists from the anti-Brexit campaign group the EU Flags Proms Team claimed to have amassed 50,000 EU flags to hand out across the various Last Night of the Proms events.
Read more:
Last Night of the Proms, review: a night of bisexual pride and diversity
This is the fourth occasion that Remain supporters have distributed EU flags to Last Night Prommers.
Kate Hobbs, of the EU Flags Proms Team, said she hoped the flags would be a “timely reminder” to the audience that music is a “universal language which unites people”.
The campaign group said the initiative was crowdfunded by a group of “music lovers” to ensure the EU flag would be waved alongside the union jack at the event.
Commenting on the campaign last year the composer Howard Goodall said: “No-one should be surprised that music lovers want to express their solidarity with professional musicians over the issue of the damage Brexit will do to their livelihoods by shutting off the right to freedom of movement that has been so vital a part of our common European musical landscape for the past forty years or so.”
