TORONTO — Students in grades 1 through 12 are being asked to “draw Jewish music” for an art contest that is part of Jewish Music Week in Toronto: From Bible to Broadway.

The weeklong festival, now in its second year, will run from June 3 to 10. The contest deadline is March 15.

Young artists are being asked to draw what Jewish music means to them personally, what Jewish music makes them think of, or what Jewish music means to people everywhere, according to the event’s website.

Entries will be judged on their originality, creativity and how they represent or have a connection with Jewish music, said Aliza Spiro, artistic director and founder of the festival.

Winning entries will be published online and in more than 20,000 brochures to be circulated in Toronto. As well, the winners will be part of an exhibit at the Gallery at the J, in the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre, during Jewish Music Week. Organizers also plan to feature them in a student art calendar.

“It’s so interesting, because music and art are so closely related,” Spiro said. The contest is “a way to get kids thinking about music and art [and] to build the creative part of their brain.”

Judy Jacobs, managing director of the festival, said, “The response last year was very positive, and we look forward to seeing the creativity in this year’s submissions.”

Art contest entries will be judged by Wendy Ng, co-ordinator for elementary school programs at the Art Gallery of Ontario; Sara Levine Petroff, owner and curator of the Petroff Gallery; artist Rochelle Rubinstein; Jeanette Kuvin-Oren, the Connecticut-based Judaica artist who created Holy Blossom Temple’s Torah covers, and artist and educator Tiana Roebuck.

Spiro added that she expects many of the concerts and recitals during the week will appeal to kids. The Renanim Youth Singers and several choirs from Jewish schools are among the performers.

As well, the closing program is a music marathon featuring teenage bands at the Zareinu Moveathon Festival.

Other events include chassidic entertainer Martin Davidson in a Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach tribute concert, Jewish jazz with pianist and composer Ron Davis, and a Yiddish and African-American musical celebration concert.

For more information about the contest and Jewish Music Week, go to www.jewishmusicweek.com.