Singing in Amsterdam: Choirs, Drop-In Nights and Lessons You Can Join This Season

September is when Amsterdam’s choirs open their doors again.

New terms begin, open rehearsals go on the calendar, and the drop-in sessions return from their summer pause.

If you have been meaning to sing with other people instead of alone in the kitchen, this is the month to act.

Every option below genuinely takes newcomers, and most of them need no audition at all.

Prices and dates come straight from the organisers’ own pages, so check the links for the latest before you set out.

A drop-in choir on the Spui, no sign-up at all

Inloopkoor Amsterdam is the lowest threshold in town: walk into the Oude Lutherse Kerk at Singel 411, pay at the door and sing.

No registration, no audition, no voice test.

Sessions run every first Sunday of the month from 14:30 to 16:30, and the doors close around 14:35.

The autumn dates are 6 September, 4 October, 1 November and 6 December.

Entry costs 15 euros, or 10 euros with a student or discount card, and a five-visit pass is 60 euros.

The website is in Dutch, so expect the session to be too.

Sing in the Main Hall: Popup Choir at the Concertgebouw

Popup Choir turns the audience into the performers.

Conductor Maarten Bos and guitarist Tijmen de Koning teach the whole hall a pop song in parts, and no experience is needed.

Earlier editions at the Concertgebouw covered Queen, Oasis, Aretha Franklin and Coldplay.

The next Amsterdam edition is Popup Choir Taylor Swift in the Main Hall on 26 October 2026, from 20:15 to 22:35.

Editions are usually billed as Dutch spoken, but the songs are the international pop canon, and the singing needs no translation.

Choirs that rehearse in English

Some Voices, the London-born contemporary choir, runs an Amsterdam group on a simple promise: all voices are welcome, no auditions or experience needed.

The year splits into three terms of ten rehearsals each, and the winter term runs from September to December.

Membership costs 35 euros a month, 140 euros for a full term, cancellable with 30 days’ notice.

Your first rehearsal is free, so you can find out whether it suits you before paying anything.

The Amsterdam Vocal Company built its English choirs specifically for internationals who want the whole session taught in English, by a native speaker.

Groups are capped at twenty singers, sessions last 75 minutes, and everything happens at the school’s home base on Surinameplein.

No experience is needed here either.

A trial session costs 14.50 euros, or 12 euros if you are under 21, after which you can join a weekly or a bi-weekly group.

A choir near your own front door

Ease Vocal Club spreads its choirs across the city: West, Oost, Noord, De Pijp, Zeeburgereiland, IJburg and the Centrum all have groups, rehearsing on evenings from Monday to Thursday.

The repertoire runs from soul, jazz and pop to folk, R&B and classical.

The club also teaches private singing lessons of 30 or 45 minutes, in packages of 5, 10 or 15 that you schedule weekly or every other week, starting whenever you like.

A private trial lesson costs 34 euros; the choirs themselves have no trial lesson.

Vocal coaching for the serious hour a week

Zangstudio Roel Bakkum has trained voices in Amsterdam since 2011, with a team of four teachers that includes a qualified speech therapist.

The studio sits at Tussen de Bogen 93, the site is fully in English, and online classes are an option if you cannot make it across town.

Private singing lessons run from 35 to 110 euros per session, depending on the teacher’s level and whether you book 30, 45 or 60 minutes.

Voice training for speakers, actors and professionals starts at 40 euros, and duo lessons are available if you would rather not sing alone.

For classical ambitions: an open rehearsal at CREA

Studentenkoor Amsterdam is a classical choir of around eighty singers attached to CREA, the University of Amsterdam’s cultural centre.

It is not only for students: membership categories run from UvA students through alumni to “all others”.

Rehearsals are on Wednesday evenings, with three concert series a year.

The way in is an open rehearsal followed by an audition with the conductor.

This season’s open rehearsals are on Wednesday 2 and Wednesday 9 September at 19:30 at CREA, Nieuwe Achtergracht 170.

A season costs 224 euros for UvA students, rising to 465 euros for everyone else.

Just turn up once

The pattern this season is the same everywhere: show up once, cheaply or free, and see how the room feels.

The drop-in choir asks nothing in advance, the English choirs sell trial sessions for the price of lunch, and even the classical route starts with an evening where you simply sing along.

Also, check out this post for a more comprehensive list of Amsterdam choirs.