Complaints choir: a posed tableau

“The important is to sing very loud,” says Finnish artist Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, in slightly fractured English. Kochta-Kalleinen is a co-creator of the complaints choir, a chorus of volunteers that puts everyday gripes like slow public transportation into song. The concept, named for a Finnish idiom, spread throughout Europe, and Chicago assembles its own whiners’ chorus in November. If one participant, Mia Horberg, gets her way, Chicago’s melodic complaints will target slow walking on Michigan Avenue and improper toilet flushing. Luckily for Horberg, the singers need not be musically inclined. “I can rock the shower, but in general I’m not the first person to sign up for karaoke,” she says. The Complaints Choir of Chicago will perform on Nov. 3rd at 1 and 3 p.m. at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

For more info, visit complaintschoir.org.

Photograph: Saverio Truglia

Styling: Robes courtesy of Erik Nussbaum/First United Methodist Church; Choir: Apollo Chorus of Chicago; Model: Ashley Dickey/Stewart Talent; Wardrobe stylists: Amy Lauhoff O’Brien and Courtney Eisen/ Ford Artists Chicago; Robe Stylist: Brandy Olsen; Hair and Makeup: Gina Ussel