Latest news with #Holborn
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Bishop stops church concert and tells choir to get out of ‘my house'
A bishop interrupted a church concert in his dressing gown to order everyone 'out of my house'. Footage shared online shows the City Academy Voices Choir and audience watching on in confusion as the lights suddenly turned off during their performance. Some members initially feared a power cut, but then the Right Rev Jonathan Baker, the Bishop of Fulham, appeared onstage and ordered everyone out. 'You are in my house and that's it,' he could be heard saying in a recording of the stand-off, which was shared on social media. 'It's gone past ten and this is a terrible racket. Goodnight. Thank you. Goodnight. You are in my house. You can leave it now, please. Thank you, it's over, thank you.' The bishop was booed off the stage of St Andrew's Church in Holborn, London, by the 300 or so people in attendance. Concert slightly overran Leigh Stanford Thompson, the choir director, told The Guardian: 'It was so bizarre. I've never experienced anything like it.' 'A lot of people thought it was some weird thing that I had organised, like a parting thing, but I knew exactly what was happening.' The concert had been slightly delayed because of technical difficulties and was on course to end shortly after its allotted 10pm finish time. The bishop's interruption came at roughly 10.07pm, but it didn't stop the choir continuing to perform an a-capella rendition of Abba's Dancing Queen. However, a church employee then took the microphone and said: 'This is a residential home. I must ask you to leave quietly. Thank you for your attendance.' 'Everyone was in astonishment' The concert had been held as a 'celebration' to mark Mr Thompson's final concert directing the choir. 'A lot of people thought it was some weird thing that I had organised, like a parting thing, but I knew exactly what was happening,' he said. The director said the unexpected a-capella ending was 'really lovely and quite moving'. 'We all went out to the pub afterwards and took it all in,' he continued. 'Everyone was in astonishment really. 'I do find it funny. I'm not particularly upset. We had a really good concert, but I think it's a real shame that we didn't get a chance to finish. But now looking back, what a way to go out.' A choir member said of the bishop's exit: 'We were singing away. Then, all of a sudden, the lights went out. At first I thought there may have been a power cut. But then the instruments were still playing. 'We were picking back up to sing when all of a sudden everything went quiet. I could see this guy in what looked like a dressing gown talking to the audience on the mic. 'There were boos and everything, it's just really disappointing.' A diocese of London spokesman said: 'Bishop Jonathan reached out to the organisers on Saturday to apologise for his late-night appearance at the concert, which he now understands had overrun due to earlier technical difficulties.'
Daily Mail
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Grumpy bishop in dressing gown demands choir get out of his church: 'You are in my house and this is a terrible racket... Leave now!'
A disgruntled bishop in a dressing gown told a choir at a church concert to stop their 'terrible racket' and get out of his house. A barefooted Jonathan Baker, the Bishop of Fulham, took to the stage and grabbed a microphone to tell bemused performers and a 300-strong audience to leave. The City Academy Voices choir was coming to the end of their performance at St Andrew's church in Holborn, central London, on Friday night when all of the lights were suddenly turned on. Social media footage of the altercation, which has been viewed almost 400,000 times, shows Bishop Jonathan telling the crowd: 'You are in my house. It's gone past 10pm and this is a terrible racket.' There are murmurs of disbelief from the crowd before the Bishop, 58, repeats: 'Goodnight. You are in my house – can you leave it now please. Thank you, it's over.' A church employee then asked the crowd to leave quietly and the musicians to depart the stage because 'this is a residential home', attracting boos and jeers from the audience. Before leaving, the choir performed one final song – an a cappella version of Abba's Dancing Queen – to cheers and applause from the crowd. The choir was performing a special summer concert last Friday and had booked the venue, which is available to hire, having used it previously with no issue. Benedict Collins, who was attending the concert with his ten-year-old daughter, said he initially thought the interruption was a staged joke. He told Sky News: 'The church willingly rents out the premises for performances, for money. They can hardly be surprised if they take bookings for concerts and there is music in the hall.' Leigh Stanford Thompson, the choir's director, described the incident as 'bizarre'. He said that members of the choir thought at first that it was a 'comedy act'. One choir member said: 'At first, I thought it was a comedy act or some actor doing a scene. But when we realised, oh no, this isn't an act, this is real, it was just a bit surreal.' 'We all went out to the pub afterwards and took it all in. Everyone was in astonishment really,' Mr Stanford Thompson told the Guardian. 'I do find it funny. I'm not particularly upset. We had a really good concert but I think it's a real shame that we didn't get a chance to finish. But now looking back, what a way to go out.' A diocese of London spokesman said: 'Bishop Jonathan reached out to the organisers on Saturday to apologise for his late-night appearance at the concert, which he now understands had overrun due to earlier technical difficulties.' One member of the choir told the Guardian: 'There were boos and everything, it's just really disappointing. At the end of these concerts, we always end on a real high and everyone goes home full of joy, but this dampened things.' They added that Bishop Jonathan's comments about the 'racket' did not sit well because 'I think we produce a beautiful sound'.
The Guardian
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Terrible racket': bishop in dressing gown shuts down London choir concert
The City Academy Voices choir had just finished belting out The Supremes hit, I'm Gonna Make You Love Me, when the lights went out and they were joined by an unexpected guest. As they were about to perform their last song, a man appeared on stage wearing a blue dressing gown with no shoes. He took the mic, described their singing as a 'terrible racket' and told them to get out, leaving the 360-odd people in the room shocked and dumfounded. 'You are in my house, can you leave it now please,' he said. The man, it appears, was Jonathan Baker, the bishop of Fulham. In a video posted on social media, the bishop can be seen telling the choir it's past 10pm and calls for the night to be 'over'. 'It was so bizarre,' said Leigh Stanford Thompson, the choir director, describing the incident that took place on Friday night. 'I've never experienced anything like it.' By chance, it was also his final concert directing the choir, and the night was 'designed as a celebration'. 'A lot of people thought it was some weird thing that I had organised, like a parting thing, but I knew exactly what was happening,' he said. This was the initial thinking of a choir member. She said: 'At first, I thought it was a comedy act or some actor doing a scene. But when we realised, oh no, this isn't an act, this is real, it was just a bit surreal.' The choir was nearing the end of their special summer concert on Friday, which this time took place in St Andrew church in Holborn, London. The choir had booked the venue, which is available to hire, and used it previously with no issue. Describing the sequence of events, the choir member said: 'We were singing away. This was our penultimate song. Then, we were going to do one final number and get everybody out of the aisles and dance. 'Then, all of a sudden, the lights went out. At first I thought there may have been a power cut. But then the instruments were still playing. 'We were picking back up to sing when all of a sudden everything went quiet. I could see this guy in what looked like a dressing gown talking to the audience on the mic.' After Baker's on-stage interruption, a church employee took the mic and apologised but told everyone they needed to leave because 'this is a residential home'. 'I must ask you to leave quietly, thank you for your attendance,' said the church worker, before addressing the choir. 'Would you leave the stage,' she said. The choir member said: 'There were boos and everything, it's just really disappointing. At the end of these concerts, we always end on a real high and everyone goes home full of joy, but this dampened things.' Baker's comments about the 'racket' being produced did not sit well. 'I think we produce a beautiful sound,' said the choir member. 'If he just waited for five minutes, we would have been done and out, but because of what happened there was lots of booing, shouting. Then people were applauding the choir.' The final song was going to be a fully staged rendition of Abba's Dancing Queen. As outrage bubbled up, the choir began performing an a cappella version on stage and finished it on their way out to a loud, rapturous reception. 'Everybody was clapping as we were making our way out,' she said. 'All of that took far longer than if he allowed the concert just to end at the right time.' Thompson said the impromptu ending 'was really lovely and quite moving'. 'We all went out to the pub afterwards and took it all in. Everyone was in astonishment really. 'I do find it funny. I'm not particularly upset. We had a really good concert but I think it's a real shame that we didn't get a chance to finish. But now looking back, what a way to go out,' he said. A diocese of London spokesperson said: 'Bishop Jonathan reached out to the organisers on Saturday to apologise for his late-night appearance at the concert, which he now understands had overrun due to earlier technical difficulties.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Bishop in dressing gown interrupts church concert - and asks crowd to 'leave my house'
A disgruntled bishop in a dressing gown has interrupted a church concert in London - telling singers to stop their "terrible racket" and "leave his house". The City Academy Voices choir was coming to the end of their performance at St Andrew's in Holborn on Friday night when the lights were suddenly turned off. Footage on TikTok shows Jonathan Baker, the bishop of Fulham, standing barefoot at a microphone - as bemused performers and a 300-strong audience look on. "You are in my house. It's gone past 10pm and this is a terrible racket," he said. "Goodnight. You are in my house - can you leave it now please. Thank you, it's over." A church employee then asked the crowd to leave quietly and for the musicians to step down from the stage, attracting boos from the audience. The choir went on to perform one last song, an A cappella version of ABBA's Dancing Queen, before bringing their show to a close. Benedict Collins, who was attending the concert with his 10-year-old daughter, told Sky News he initially thought the interruption was a staged joke. "The church willingly rents out the premises for performances, for money," he said. "They can hardly be surprised if they take bookings for concerts and there is music in the hall." Mr Collins said the talented choir had "worked like mad" on the performance - and criticised the bishop's remarks. "This work deserves respect, not to be disparaged as a 'terrible racket'," he added. "The people here had put their heart and soul into it. The bishop cut them off in midstream, preventing soloists who had worked their hardest from singing - and preventing the audience, which included people of all ages, from enjoying it to the end." Read more UK news:Age verification tools on adult sites bypassed A spokesperson for the Diocese of London had told The Guardian: "Bishop Jonathan reached out to the organisers on Saturday to apologise for his late-night appearance at the concert, which he now understands had overrun due to technical difficulties." But Mr Collins told Sky News that he felt this statement was "mealy mouthed". He added: "I hope the bishop is well and okay. It's possible he just had a bad day. An unambiguous apology would help, one that recognises why his behaviour wasn't acceptable."
Sky News
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Sky News
'This is a terrible racket': Bishop in dressing gown interrupts church concert - and asks crowd to 'leave my house'
A disgruntled bishop in a dressing gown has interrupted a church concert in London - telling singers to stop their "terrible racket" and "leave his house". The City Academy Voices choir was coming to the end of their performance at St Andrew's in Holborn on Friday night when the lights were suddenly turned off. Footage on TikTok shows Jonathan Baker, the bishop of Fulham, standing barefoot at a microphone - as bemused performers and a 300-strong audience look on. "You are in my house. It's gone past 10pm and this is a terrible racket," he said. "Goodnight. You are in my house - can you leave it now please. Thank you, it's over." A church employee then asked the crowd to leave quietly and for the musicians to step down from the stage, attracting boos from the audience. The choir went on to perform one last song, an A cappella version of ABBA's Dancing Queen, before bringing their show to a close. Benedict Collins, who was attending the concert with his 10-year-old daughter, told Sky News he initially thought the interruption was a staged joke. "The church willingly rents out the premises for performances, for money," he said. "They can hardly be surprised if they take bookings for concerts and there is music in the hall." Mr Collins said the talented choir had "worked like mad" on the performance - and criticised the bishop's remarks. "This work deserves respect, not to be disparaged as a 'terrible racket'," he added. "The people here had put their heart and soul into it. The bishop cut them off in midstream, preventing soloists who had worked their hardest from singing - and preventing the audience, which included people of all ages, from enjoying it to the end." A spokesperson for the Diocese of London had told The Guardian: "Bishop Jonathan reached out to the organisers on Saturday to apologise for his late-night appearance at the concert, which he now understands had overrun due to technical difficulties." Mr Collins told Sky News: "I hope the bishop is well and okay. It's possible he just had a bad day. An unambiguous apology would help, one that recognises why his behaviour wasn't acceptable."
