The Ashkenaz Festival is one of the largest and most prestigious showcases of Jewish music and culture anywhere in the world. Since 1995, the festival has taken place biennially at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto’s premier venue for the presentation of world and folk culture and for the meeting of diverse communities through the arts. Originally founded as a showcase for Klezmer and Yiddish music and culture, the Ashkenaz Festival has evolved over the years into an eclectic showcase of global Jewish art and culture, encompassing not merely the traditions of eastern Europe, but also Sephardic, Mizrachi and Israeli culture, and all manner of cross-cultural fusion. The Festival is offered 90% free to the public and attracts a multicultural audience of over 60,000 people. Nowhere else in the world does so large and diverse an audience come together to experience Jewish cultural arts. Though strongly focused on music, Ashkenaz is a multidisciplinary festival, including dance, theatre, film, literature and talk, visual arts, and kids/family programs. Ashkenaz usually features over 80 performances and 200+ individual artists, hailing from across Canada and around the world. Over the years, Ashkenaz has presented artists from over 25 countries and 6 continents.
Ashkenaz Foundation
Related Events
Upcoming
December 17, 2024
Ashkenaz is pleased to partner with Krakow’s FestivALT to present the premiere screening of a new mini-documentary featuring renowned Polish trumpeter Mikołaj Trzaska.
Archived
December 8, 2024
The Ger Mandolin Orchestra will perform at NY’s Museum of Jewish Heritage to close the NY Jewish Book Festival.
Archived
August 31, 2024
In this staged reading, coinciding with the show’s launch on the The Canadian Jewish News Podcast Network, live actors will perform scenes from the play while post-production sound effects fill out an immersive in-person audio experience.
Archived
August 28, 2024
to September 2, 2024
Tunni Kraus is travelling from Melbourne, Australia to debut a new body of paintings.
Archived
August 28, 2024
The international premiere of an upbeat, witty, and timely documentary about the global Yiddish cultural renaissance.
Archived
August 27, 2024
Yiddish Songs of Social Change in a chamber music format.
Archived
September 2, 2024
Summer 2024 is coming to an end! Join us on Labour Day Monday for The Last Horrah: End of Summer Celebration at Honey & Barry Community Park.
Archived
August 27, 2024
to September 2, 2024
The Festival will once again celebrate Jewish musical and artistic creativity from across the globe, spotlighting diverse musical expressions of the Jewish experience.
Archived
July 15, 2024
to August 26, 2024
Join Ashkenaz once again at Earl Bales Park in North Toronto for the second edition of the Summer Jam concert series.
Archived
March 28, 2024
Musical Director: Mike Marshall. Featuring the world premiere live performance of “Ger Suite” by Marcin Masecki.
Archived
December 7, 2023
Where light and darkness meet, let’s begin Chanukah together in a community-wide gathering.
Archived
November 22, 2023
Ashkenaz presents the release concert for “Babylonia Suite,” the second album from Toronto jazz drummer and composer Ilios Steryannis.
Archived
October 6, 2023
Germany’s Semer Ensemble will be hosting a program of workshops at the brand new Toronto Holocaust Museum.
Archived
October 5, 2023
Founded in 2012, the Semer Ensemble performs rare music recorded by Jewish artists in Berlin during the 1930s on the almost unknown “Semer” record label.
Archived
July 17, 2023
to August 14, 2023
Ashkenaz Festival and Magen Boys Entertainment are teaming up this summer for “Summer Jam,” a first-of-its-kind concert series bringing downtown music festival vibes to North Toronto.
Archived
April 16, 2023
A listen-and-learn roundtable discussion exploring the great range of Jewish musical expression in Canada over the last century.
Archived
December 15, 2022
In 2019, a fully orchestrated Bas Sheve was performed at Yiddish Summer Weimer. In the summer of 2022, it made its North American debut at Toronto’s Ashkenaz Festival. This panel will discuss the performance with video examples provided.
Archived
December 20, 2022
Join in an art-filled, outdoor, all-ages community candle lighting celebration for the third night of Hanukkah!
Archived
December 17, 2022
IGNITE! opens with a community-wide Havdalah for all ages, then breaks into a choose-your-own-adventure of arts-based workshops, performances, and Jewish study sessions.
Archived
November 10, 2022
This project is about women. Creative, strong, breaking social taboos, and in some ways… invisible. Join us during HEW for a beautiful, multi-media theatrical concert.
Archived
September 3, 2022
to September 4, 2022
Cabaret meets The Producers in this uproariously edgy new show from New York Times bestselling author Michael Wex.
Archived
August 31, 2022
to September 2, 2022
Ashkenaz 2022 will feature the North American premiere of Henekh Kon’s “Bas-Sheve,” the only known pre-Holocaust Yiddish opera.
Archived
August 30, 2022
This special concert will celebrate female voices, the principles of equality, and the continuing development of Jewish liturgical tradition.
Archived
July 1, 2022
Described as the “Lebron James of Klezmer” Winograd is one of the leading klezmer musicians of his generation.
Archived
May 15, 2022
Combining his Ethiopian musical roots with soul, reggae, funk and jazz, Gili Yalo is sure to get you moving and grooving!
Archived
May 8, 2022
Come celebrate women the world over this Mother’s Day with the release of an album that sets to music poems of Lenka’s own family matriarch.
Archived
February 15, 2022
to March 8, 2022
A four-part virtual event series exploring the relationship between Jews and country music.
Archived
October 7, 2021
to October 28, 2021
Eric Stein explores this long-overlooked history through rare photographs, ephemera, and recordings from a number of Jewish mandolin legends, placing the Jewish affinity for the instrument in the context of broader cultural trends.
Archived
October 10, 2021
to October 24, 2021
In July 2021, Ashkenaz presented its first official concerts with a live audience since the global pandemic began. This magical week of concerts was documented with multiple cameras and mics and will be streamed in four episodes, on Sundays at 8pm ET throughout October.
Archived
September 17, 2021
to September 18, 2021
BLOK: Slavic Music Meet is a first-of-its-kind gathering devoted to east European music, featuring live performances by Canadian acts and virtual shows from artists located in Eastern Europe.
Archived
September 4, 2021
to September 5, 2021
These two virtual concerts pay tribute to our history and to our past artistic leaders, with beautifully filmed pre-recorded performances.
Archived
August 28, 2021
Join FENTSTER and Ashkenaz live-streamed on the KlezKanada Facebook page featuring an array of programming produced in Toronto and New York.
Archived
July 28, 2021
Based on last summer’s 25th anniversary online exhibition, this interactive, multimedia presentation will trace Ashkenaz’s history and evolution, including video excerpts from memorable performances over the first 25 years, as well as pandemic-era adaptations.
Archived
July 26, 2021
to July 30, 2021
Ashkenaz is pleased to join with dozens of other international Yiddish culture organizations in supporting this virtual concert honoring Zalmen Mlotek’s 50-year career dedicated to Yiddish music and theatre … on the occasion of his 70th Birthday!
Archived
July 11, 2021
Featuring a dozen artists from around the globe performing Yiddish songs of social justice, including labor anthems, protest songs, humanitarian odes, songs of struggle, and songs based in Yiddish poetry and Jewish scripture.
Archived
May 24, 2021
Hosted and curated by our friend Seth Rogovoy, the event takes a deep dive into Dylan’s music to reveal its Jewish roots and mystical branches, with performances by Joshua “Socalled” Dolgin, Daniel Kahn, Niki Jacobs, and Lail Arad.
Archived
April 18, 2021
FestivALT co-directors Michael Rubenfeld and Adam Schorin take you on a live, virtual, critical tour that will open the door to some of Kazimierz’s hidden narratives and encourage you to see beyond the visible exterior.
Archived
March 21, 2021
A global audience of thousands will again log in to celebrate Passover with a unique re-telling of the Passover story, interwoven with the eternal Jewish story of striving for freedom, dignity and equality, as told in the thousand year old language and culture of Yiddish.
Archived
February 26, 2021
Ashkenaz premieres archival video from the 1998 Purim Shpiel and celebration at the old Bloor JCC, featuring Michael Wex, David Wall, David Buchbinder, Shadowland Theatre, and hundreds of community members.
Archived
February 10, 2021
This hourlong 2014 documentary weaves the life story of NEA National Heritage Fellowship Award winner, Flory Jagoda z”l, with her 2013 Celebration Concert at the US Library of Congress.
Archived
January 31, 2021
to February 3, 2021
Ashkenaz and Yiddish Summer Weimar mark this year’s International Holocaust Remembrance Day with a very special performance by the first ‘supergroup’ of the Klezmer Revival.
Archived
January 18, 2021
The National Yiddish Theatre Folksbiene’s livestream concert presented on the US national holiday of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Soul to Soul marks the historical connections between two peoples and two cultures whose destinies have so often intersected.
Archived
January 19, 2021
to March 2, 2021
Join Artistic Director of the Ashkenaz Festival, Eric Stein, as he shares his knowledge and passion for Klezmer Music in our new virtual Guided Listening series.
Archived
December 27, 2020
This annual event was created in honour of the late great singer and researcher Adrienne Cooper z”l (1946-2011), who was a towering figure in the Yiddish revival and graced Ashkenaz stages so many times.
Archived
December 13, 2020
A newly-commissioned composition by renowned Polish composer Marcin Masecki, created in tribute to the rich tradition of mandolin orchestras and mandolin music in Polish-Jewish life.
Archived
October 27, 2020
This all-new video podcast brings to life the pages of Mandel’s lovingly researched story, with renowned actor Alon Nashman stepping into the author’s persona as narrator of the original text.
Archived
October 27, 2020
to December 8, 2020
From ragtime and jazz, to bluegrass and country, as well as pop, classical and multiple forms of ethnic folk music, new musical treasures await you.
Archived
September 1, 2020
to September 7, 2020
A virtual celebration of Ashkenaz’s 25th anniversary with a series of new performances, and a selection of archival performances from past Festivals.
Archived
September 15, 2020
The music of clarinetists Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras is iconic of American klezmer music. Their legacy has had an enduring impact on the development of the popular world music genre.
Archived
August 24, 2020
As Toronto begins to re-open, leaders from performing arts organizations will discuss how they adapted their programming for the pandemic, and what they see as the future of the performing arts as we move forward into the “new normal.”
Related Exhibitions
Gallery
August 28, 2024
to September 2, 2024
A series of abstract paintings by Tunni Kraus based on the mystical Yiddish text written by Der Nister. An Ashkenaz Festival off-site event.
Window Gallery
September 3, 2022
to September 5, 2022
Discover the history and myriad interactions of two historic peoples living side by side on Ukrainian lands, through texts, maps, graphics, paintings, photographs and other images.
Virtual
August 19, 2020
to September 18, 2020
Celebrate 25 years of the Ashkenaz Festival by exploring the festival’s archives in this virtual exhibition at the MNjcc Virtual Gallery.
