At first glance, the online schedule of the 2012 Ashkenaz Festival seems so incredibly robust and bursting with fine cultural offerings that one may be forgiven for imagining it might take place in New York rather than in Toronto.

But the ninth biennial (every second year) celebration of new Yiddish music, art and culture began right here in Toronto in 1995 and has grown into a diverse international cultural celebration that will feature more than 200 artists from more than a dozen countries this year.

The website (www.ashkenazfestival.com) shows at least 64 performances of various kinds – at least that’s when I stopped counting. If you’ll pardon the mixed cultural metaphor, the festival is a smorgasbord of Yiddish music, literature, theatre, film, dance, visual arts and more, including:

• Theresa Tova and a stellar ensemble present a tribute to Chava Rosenfarb, the acclaimed Yiddish writer;

• Theatre Panik presents The Corpse Bride, a darkly comic play straight out of shtetl folklore, about a young groom who accidentally weds a corpse;

• Musical performances from Israel’s Yemen Blues Band, Israel and India’s Shye Ben Tzur, Uganda’s Abayudaya, New York’s Basya Schechter, Montreal’s Socalled, Russia’s Opal, Winnipeg’s Finjan, Mexico’s Klezmerson, Argentina’s Lerner Moguilevsky, Central Asia’s Shashmaqam, and many more;

• Literary talks from Travellers co-founder Jerry Gray, Michael Wex with a sneak preview of his latest book about Jewish food, Paul Buhle, editor of the recent Yiddishkeit anthology of graphic tales, and others;

• Films such as Yosl Birshteyn about the Yiddish and Hebrew literary master of the same name, and Buster Keaton’s Sherlock Jr., featuring a live musical score by Fern Lindzon;

• Children’s performers Sharon and Bram, who add Yiddish songs alongside their classic repertoire; and much more.

The week-long festival runs Tuesday, Aug. 28, through Monday, Sept. 3, and includes the popular Ashkenaz Parade. Some of the events are ticketed but most are free. For more information and complete events listings, please visit harbourfrontcentre.com/summer or phone 416-973-4000. Harbourfront Centre is located at 235 Queen’s Quay W., along Toronto’s waterfront.

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Streetcar Songs: Yiddish Vinkl presents “Tramvay Lider – Streetcar Songs,” featuring the Yiddish poems of Shimen Nepom, set to music by Charles Heller and sung by Heller with Brahm Goldhammer on piano. Shimen Nepom was born in Ukraine in 1890 and later came to Toronto, where he became an acclaimed poet who worked as a streetcar conductor on College Street. Free Times Cafe, 320 College St. Thursday, Sept. 6, 12 noon. $18, includes buffet lunch. RSVP to [email protected]

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Names in the News: Israeli-born Canadian Shalom Bard has been hired as the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s RBC resident conductor, TSO music director Peter Oundjian announced recently. Bard, who begins in his new position in September, was previously resident conductor of Symphony Nova Scotia, an assistant conductor with the Herbert Zipper Orchestra of Los Angeles, and conductor of the Mooredale Youth Orchestra in Toronto.

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Arts in Brief

• Conductor Gillian Stecyk invites you to join the Adult Daytime Choir, a “fun, light-hearted group” that sings all types of music. No audition or experience required; must love to sing. $5 drop-in, runs all summer. Miles Nadal JCC, Tuesdays 1 to 2:30 p.m. [email protected]

• Driftwood artist Jerry Friedman opens his studio to visitors during the “Artists of the Limberlost” studio tour. Features 20 artists in seven studios along historic Limberlost Road, 12 km east of Huntsville, Ont., Aug. 18 and 19. www.artistsofthelimberlost.ca