The inaugural Polyphonic Ground Presents concert and 16th Annual Small World Music Festival launch! Ashkenaz Festival and Small World Music stage a night of Balkan voices, Middle-Eastern/Appalachian fusion and Algerian grooves. The women who make up Turkwaz share passion and expertise that brings to fervent life the ancient songs of Greece, Turkey, the Middle East. Sandcatchers are nothing if not eclectic, bridging NYC jazz sensibility to Middle-Eastern, Jewish and American roots, while GROOZ lays Algerian Raï on top of funky…

Join us for an engaging conversation about the modern Jewish food movement, featuring leading culinary personalities Leah Koenig and Bonnie Stern. Based in Brooklyn, Leah Koenig is an expert on global Jewish cuisine whose writing has appeared in publications such as The New York Times, Saveur, and Epicurious. She is the author of several cookbooks, among them Modern Jewish Cooking and, most recently, Little Book of Jewish Appetizers. Bonnie Stern is a household name in Canada, having authored 12 bestselling…

Ashkenaz is thrilled to return as a guest programmer to Richmond Hill’s premier multicultural festival, Tastes of the Hill. This free event takes place at Richmond Green in Richmond Hill on Sunday September 24. Our musical pick, the Boxcar Boys, will close down the festival with the last music set of the day at 5pm. The Boxcar Boys create their distinct and energetic sound by weaving together a captivating bevy of folk traditions, Dixieland jazz and Klezmer, all performed with…

By popular demand, Germany’s Semer Ensemble returns to Toronto following their show-stopping appearance at the 2016 Ashkenaz Festival. This “supergroup” brings back to life the eclectic Jewish music captured on historic recordings made in Berlin between 1933-1938 by Hirsh Lewin on his Semer Records label. This short-lived record label served as a “musical Noah’s Ark” at a time when Jewish artists were banned by the Nazis from participation in the mainstream music industry. In five short years, Lewin recorded a…

Following their amazing performance at the 2016 Ashkenaz Festival,  we are proud to support the Aga Khan Museum’s presentation of the Israeli-Iranian Musical Initiative and their stunning program “All Rivers At Once”.  Discover jazz-like arrangements of traditional Israeli and Iranian folk songs. Pianist and composer Noam Lemish leads the group featuring tombak player Pedram Khavarzamini, kamancheh player Saeed Kamjoo, and Amos Hoffman on oud, as well as special guest Aviva Chernick on vocals alongside a band featuring some of Toronto’s…

We are pleased once again to partner with the Aga Khan Museum in presenting Yemen Blues. Ashkenaz premiered Yemen Blues to Canadian audiences with an incredible show at Toronto’s Mod Club back in 2011, and we invited them back the following year to headline the 2012 Ashkenaz Festival. The band has since continued its ascent to the top tier of Israeli world music artists, with their explosive combination of Yemeni song and poetry, Jewish music, West African groove, and funk.…

Ashkenaz is pleased to co-present the Canadian premiere of Israel’s next breakout world music sensation, Bint El Funk (Daughter of Funk). Bint El Funk’s style combines funk with traditional Jewish Yemenite music, influenced by Afro beat, jazz, Mediterranean music, psychedelic-Turkish music and more. Alongside Yemenite texts are love songs, social protest songs, Bedouin nonsense, and poetry. The group’s performances evoke a tribal party, with sounds, rhythms, colors, and scents uniting in a feast for the senses that connects Sana’a in…