THURSDAY JUNE 11, 4pm To watch live on Ashkenaz's Facebook page CLICK HERE This event is presented FREE thanks to the generous support of the Peretz Miransky Fund at the Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto Ashkenaz is pleased to partner with Virtual J to present the Canadian launch of Matzah Ball Books’ seventh publication, Bubbe & Zaide.  This online event will include a reading of the book by its creator, Anne-Marie Asner, joined by special guest reader, famed actor Ed…

Ashkenaz is proud to curate and sponsor a special, all-Canadian edition of the "Yiddish Song: Step Forverts" series.  Join us live on Facebook at noon (EST) on Wednesday July 1, Canada Day, as we spotlight some of Canada's leading Yiddish singers and songwriters, including Socalled (Josh Dolgin), Mitch Smolkin, David Wall, Theresa Tova, Lenka Lichtenberg, Batsheva, Allan Merovitz and Shayla Fink and Kinzey Posen. Hosted by Polina Shepherd and Efim Chorny, with Eric Stein. Click HERE to Watch. Canada is…

Be sure to check out our 25th anniversary exhibition, now online at the MNJCC's Virtual J Gallery. Read about the history of the Festival and see photos, videos, press clippings, program books and more. CLICK HERE

Join us online for a virtual celebration of Ashkenaz’s 25th anniversary! The program will run during what would have been this year’s Ashkenaz Festival dates, September 1-7. The festivities will include two parallel programs: a series of new ‘pop-up’ performances by Toronto based artists, livestreaming each day at 4pm, and a series of archival performances from past Festivals, streaming each evening at 8pm. Streams will take place on FACEBOOK and YOUTUBE (click the text in caps to go to those…

New York Klezmer in the Early Twentieth Century A Special Book Launch Event Featuring Joel Rubin with Mark Slobin Free Online Event - Stay tuned for links To order Joel Rubin’s new book, New York Klezmer in the Early Twentieth Century: The Music of Naftule Brandwein and Dave Tarras, go to this link: https://boydellandbrewer.com/new-york-klezmer-in-the-early-twentieth-century.html Use the discount code BB870 for a 35% discount. Starting August 20, there will also be an ePDF and ePUBs available for $24.95. Presented by the…

LIVESTREAM PREMIERE: TUESDAY OCTOBER 27, 8pm View it on our FACEBOOK PAGE or YOUTUBE CHANNEL Published posthumously in 2016, Michael Mandel’s book The Jewish Hour: The Golden Age of a Toronto Yiddish Radio Show and Newspaper, tells the story of the author’s quest to learn about his late father Max Mandel‘s career as a Yiddish singer and radio personality in mid-twentieth century Toronto. Through archival photos and recordings, as well as articles from the Toronto Yiddish newspaper, the Kanader Nayes…

Ashkenaz is pleased to co-present as part of this year's Toronto Jewish Film Festival online, an eclectic collection of wonderful new short films from around the world, produced in the Yiddish language. Selections include a magical-realist comedy set in Hasidic Brooklyn, two masterly-directed films based on stories by Sholem Aleichem and Franz Kafka, and two charming English shorts show a younger generation reflecting on the Yiddish language and values they have inherited.The 8o minute program is available for streaming at…

Ashkenaz is pleased to partner with Warsaw's POLIN Museum to present the online premiere of a newly-commissioned song suite by the brilliant Polish pianist and composer Marcin Masecki. He is joined for the performance by Mike Marshall, one of the world’s greatest mandolin virtuosos, and leader of The Ger Mandolin Orchestra. Masecki's suite is inspired by the pre-WWII Polish-Jewish mandolin traditions to which the Ger Mandolin Orchestra has so powerfully paid tribute (watch highlights below of the group's 2013 performance…