Klachtenkoor

The Complaints Choir is a joint art project by de Appel and Community Centre Plan C in which complaints are transformed into music. Based in the Diamantbuurt neighbourhood in Amsterdam Zuid, both organisations bring local residents together to give musical expression to personal frustrations and social concerns. Singers and non-singers are welcome: singing experience is not required, as long as you have something to complain about.

Led by musician Azubike Onwuka and with keyboardist Mark Milan, the group works on its own compositions in open rehearsals. The lyrics are based on what the participants themselves contribute: about high rents, bureaucratic and mental pressure, gentrification or simply everyday annoyances. The choir is serious and light-hearted at the same time, with room for mutual recognition and humour.

The Complaints Choir differs from traditional choirs in that it does not sing an existing repertoire. Each edition produces new material that comes directly from conversations during rehearsals. The choir consists of a changing group of local residents of different ages and backgrounds.

In 2025, the project built on the first edition from 2024. The group grew into a permanent core of local residents, supplemented by new participants from Amsterdam Zuid and beyond. During biweekly rehearsals, complaints were collected, discussed and transformed into new compositions that were sung together.

The Complaints Choir will continue in the spring of 2026. The exact start date will be communicated later.

The Complaints Choir is based on the original Complaints Choir, initiated by artists Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen in Birmingham in 2005. Since then, countless local editions have sprung up around the world.