Choir “Rudzi”
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Upcoming choir rehearsals
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About the choir
“When we sing together, Latvia sounds in Bavaria too!”
We are “Rudzi” – a Latvian choir in Munich. We sing because song lets us feel Latvia even far away from it. It brings us together, strengthens friendships and creates a place where our language and traditions become part of everyday life. For us, the choir is also a community where we meet, grow and create memories for ourselves and our children.
The story of “Rudzi” began in the mountains near Garmisch during the 2023 Lāčplēsis Day torchlight procession. Founders and friends of the Latvian Association in Bavaria were singing folk songs together when the idea came up: we should have our own choir! The seed of rye had been sown. Soon twelve singers and a choirmaster were found – our friend, composer and music teacher Maksim Liakh.
We met for our first rehearsal on 6 January 2024, and the very next day, on Epiphany, we sang for the first time at a service of the Latvian congregation of Munich in the church in Murnau. It was a bold start, and the joy of singing together proved contagious: in its first year the choir grew to more than thirty members. Singers travelled to rehearsals in Munich from as far as Salzburg, Garmisch, Lindau and Tyrol.
In our very first year we were guests at the anniversary concert of the choir “Mainas Balsis” in Frankfurt, performed at the “Tag der Laienmusik” at Munich’s Gasteig and sang several times at the church in Murnau. Every concert brought new experience and the chance to meet people united by a love of song.
Our first own concert
A special milestone was 23 November 2024, when together with the Latvian Association in Bavaria we held our first own concert in Munich, “We are Latvia – yours and mine!”. On this evening dedicated to Latvia’s national holidays we were joined by the choir “Mainas Balsis” from Frankfurt, the Graz Latvian choir “Pilskalns”, the Latvian Olympians’ Choir and the Esslingen Orchestra.
It was at this concert that Raitis Grigalis’s song “Es iešu tur”, with words by Dace Ābeltiņa – a tribute to Latvians all over the world – was performed for the first time. We all sang together in a joint choir, accompanied by the Esslingen Orchestra, with the composer himself at the piano and as soloist. Our first shared celebration also became the place where a new song began its journey to listeners.
Song leads us further
Since then, the concert paths of “Rudzi” have grown wider. On 8 June 2025 we sang at a Pentecost concert in Munich together with the family choir “Trejzemīte” and pianist Barbara Sá da Costa, and in July we took part in the III European Latvian Culture Festival in Bradford, United Kingdom. On 30 November of the same year we celebrated the first Sunday of Advent with a service and a concert.
In both 2025 and 2026 we helped organise the European Latvian choir camps in Esslingen and sang in their concerts. They were chances to learn together, work with conductors and meet singers from different European countries. The 2025 and 2026 masterclasses were also attended by Mārtiņš Klišāns, chief conductor of the Song Festival and the diaspora, and the 2026 camp concert was dedicated to the centenary of Esslingen’s Südkirche.
We enjoyed a new collaboration on 18 and 19 April 2026, performing in Munich and Fraunberg together with the German choir “Taktvoll” and the Fraunberg orchestra. The programme brought music by Emīls Dārziņš, Jāzeps Vītols, Jēkabs Jančevskis and our choirmaster Maksim Liakh together with works by Gabriel Fauré and Giuseppe Verdi. Latvian choral song sounded alongside European classics and reached the local German audience as well.
We want Latvian culture to live on here as a living experience – in rehearsals, concerts and shared celebrations. That is why we sing. And we invite you, too, to become part of the “Rudzi” story.
Choirmaster of our choir “Rudzi”: Maksim Liakh
Captivated by Latvian culture!
Choirmaster, composer and pianist
Since 2024 Maksim Liakh has been the choirmaster of the choir “Rudzi”. He builds the choir’s repertoire, leads rehearsals and conducts its concerts – from the festive concert for Latvia’s birthday in Munich to song festivals in Germany, the USA and Latvia.
Although Maksim is not Latvian himself, Latvian choral song has truly captured him. Of the choir and the association he says: “Being part of it is a privilege.” In rehearsals he draws on his experience as a professional musician to help the singers find a shared sound and discover the richness of Latvian choral music.
Maksim was born in 1995 in Ivatsevichy, Belarus, and moved to Germany with his family at the age of six. He began composing at the age of eight. He studied piano pedagogy at the Wiesbaden Music Academy and composition at the University of Music and Performing Arts Munich in the class of Professor Moritz Eggert, completing his master’s degree under Vladimir Tarnopolski. He currently lives in Regensburg.
Maksim’s works have been performed in Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Italy, and his work has been supported by, among others, the Isabella Scelsi Foundation. His piece for young zither players, “Der kleine Holländer”, was chosen as the compulsory piece of the Munich International Zither Competition and the Roland Zimmer Competition. He also writes orchestrations and arrangements for orchestras, big bands and chamber ensembles, some of which have been broadcast on BR2 radio.
From 2017 to 2025 Maksim taught music theory and piano at the Vocational School of Music in Plattling, and for more than eight years he has prepared young musicians for entrance exams at music universities. He is a member of the German Composers’ Association and the Society for Music Theory. Today this wide-ranging experience serves the choir “Rudzi” and Latvian song in Bavaria.
Administrator of the choir “Rudzi”: Ēriks Atvars
“If laughter is the best medicine, then singing in a choir is a prescription I happily write for everyone! I had never sung in a choir before, although song has been with me all my life. Now I look forward to every rehearsal as another dose of joy, and I can no longer imagine life without it.”
Future projects
New encounters and musical challenges lie ahead. Our plans include friendship concerts as well as taking part in Latvian song festivals in Europe and across the ocean.
- 28 November 2026 — concert “Mūsu zeme Latvija” (Our Land Latvia) in Munich.
- April 2027 — friendship concert in Amberg with German and Ukrainian choirs.
- 17–20 June 2027 — Song Festival in Esslingen.
- 2–4 July 2027 — West Coast Latvian Song and Dance Festival in Seattle, USA.
- 5–7 August 2027 — “No zobena saule lēca” in Vecāķi, Latvia.
- 30 June – 9 July 2028 — XXVIII Nationwide Latvian Song and XVIII Dance Celebration, Latvia
