Loan providers look at your financial details, as well as comments with the all your valuable principals
Loan providers look at your financial details, as well as comments with the all your valuable principals They examine these information to test your financial energy due to the fact an enthusiastic individual or class (when you have people). When you are a group, it determine your own cumulative websites well worth. Basically, lenders dont offer connection money one to meet or exceed an applicant’s overall websites worthy of. Business Feel Individuals in addition to their people need complete a friends character and you will providers propose to the financial institution. This will demonstrated how much experience and knowledge you may have in the field. Lenders in addition to assess the stamina of one’s organization suggestion, as well as similar systems you have accomplished properly regarding earlier. If you find yourself an alternate business person, which part could make it difficult to secure approval. Credit history Tax returns Business strategy Organization reputation along with pages of one’s partners Review of renovation costs and plan Detail their get off approach (refinancing, offering, and other financing supply) Bridge funds have the same payment framework so you’re able to old-fashioned commercial fund, regardless if with far quicker conditions. Some connection fund can be as brief since the half a year, but most lenders give 1 year to three season terminology. These types of incorporate an appeal-only fee, and therefore a borrower has only to pay for monthly appeal charge for the entire financing. Just like the name is with, an effective balloon commission have to be designed to reduce the rest harmony. For instance, why don’t we guess your got a bridge financing value $900,100 which have nine % Annual percentage rate. You should make good balloon commission by the end of 2-12 months title. Because of it mortgage, the brand new balloon percentage will be based upon a keen amortization plan which have a great 30-seasons identity. Utilising the calculator on top, let’s compute your own monthly focus-merely payment, prominent and you will focus payment, https://simplycashadvance.net/loans/emergency-loans-for-bad-credit/ plus the full balloon payment. In line with the performance, your monthly interest-merely commission is $4,. Should you want to generate dominant money which have focus, it will cost $5,. By the end of your own identity, your own total balloon fee might possibly be $620,. A beneficial balloon commission try a single-day lump sum amount you to definitely pays down a mortgage. This can be a large contribution, that makes it risky to own loan providers if you aren’t in a position to produce financing. Therefore, its crucial to have a borrower to refinance, promote the home, otherwise make resources of funding to spend along the financing. Our very own calculator and quotes holder security and also the worth of the home because balloon payment arrives. Moreover, it means your loan-to-really worth (LTV) proportion once you re-finance towards the end of the readiness day. Because of it example, your equity is $423, when the term finishes. After couple of years, your home well worth would be value $step one,044,. And if you refinanced by the end of label, this new LTV proportion could well be at the percent. Type of Bridge Fund Signed Connecting Mortgage This type of finance bring a predetermined repaired installment several months and therefore reduces the chance towards the lender, permitting them to give aggressive mortgage interest rates. Open Connecting Mortgage These money don’t possess a fixed cost big date. Connecting organizations could possibly get subtract notice from the very first loan get better in order to limitation its dangers. These types of financing together with often hold a higher...
Read MoreAlthough not, you might nevertheless use a normal mortgage for commands from attributes that cannot become funded with a beneficial Virtual assistant financing
Although not, you might nevertheless use a normal mortgage for commands from attributes that cannot become funded with a beneficial Virtual assistant financing Having interest levels generally speaking a 8th in order to a quarter regarding a great percent lower than traditional fund, as well as the selection for a good $0 down payment within closure, a Va loan certainly looks too-good to take and pass upwards. For many veterans and active click to find out more duty servicemembers, its a complete zero-brainer. Although not, it is essential to note that new Department regarding Veterans Affairs does put certain constraints towards the Va finance, so that they may possibly not be the best fit for every person. For 1, the application is just applicable in america. Except in uncommon occasions, you can just use a Va financing to order an initial house, which has is filled contained in this 60 days of your own closing (unless you are strengthening a special house on the a lot), and there was rigid minimum servicing requirements. It means zero fixer-uppers, travel house, and you can particular constraints into resource functions. You can aquire as much as a several tool flat strengthening, nevertheless need are now living in one of many products. Based on Ashley B., the following time she attempted to pick which have good Virtual assistant financing, the offer dropped courtesy on account of the fix activities. The vendor failed to need to do the things which the new Va are requesting, she told you. Thus i wound-up having to walk off. Just because you’ve utilized a great Virtual assistant financing in past times doesn’t mean you can’t play with a normal mortgage later on, and you may vice versa. Really version of attributes available on the ily homes, rentals, are designed residential property (mobile home), the latest design, and you can multiple-tool houses to four leases is actually totally compatible with Virtual assistant funds. Money Charge, PMI, and you will Origination Fees Every home loan affairs come with their unique selection of fees, many of which all are round the all sorts and some and that is actually unique to personal financing apps. The secret should be to weigh the many costs against both to determine what mortgage choice is least expensive for your version of situations. The very best stumbling block for many of us offered an excellent Va loan ‘s the Va resource commission: a percentage of your own loan payable to your Virtual assistant developed in descending levels given that large and you may huge down money is actually added. If you are unable to assembled a deposit, the newest capital commission–hence, again, might be folded into financing in itself–was a tiny price to cover getting its foot during the the door out-of homeownership, as they say. However for people that are able to afford down money as much as 20%, the extra dominant amount borrowed–definition a much bigger amount of cash to repay about long run–might not be worth it based closing costs together with inconvenience of required Virtual assistant inspections and you can appraisal. Underneath the 20% down payment endurance, conventional financing usually require private financial insurance rates (PMI); an additional month-to-month charges between .5%-1% of the total mortgage. PMI function high monthly payments and you may more substantial complete mortgage. Which have PMI waived with the conventional funds as 20% deposit is created, the main benefit of an excellent Virtual assistant loan starts to evaporate. Several other city where Va exerts regulatory control beneficial to candidates out of Va financing is within settlement costs....
Read MoreFHLB De l’ensemble des Moines helps home loan credit, economic creativity, and you may reasonable housing
FHLB De l’ensemble des Moines helps home loan credit, economic creativity, and you may reasonable housing Providing a critical Native population is a huge possible opportunity to strengthen regional economies. As chairman and you will Chief executive officer of your own Government Mortgage Lender out of Des Moines (FHLB De l’ensemble des Moines), Mike Wilson possess an eye to have economic perception. The fresh new FHLB De l’ensemble des Moines region includes 13 states and you may about three Us Pacific territories and you may surrounds around one to-third of one’s nation’s Indigenous populace. But the decision to help with work from Local CDFIs did not started immediately; it came from numerous years of venture and you may mindful study of the economical land when you look at the Indian Country. Like many financial institutions, FHLB Des Moines try positioned to help Indigenous CDFIs meet ascending investment needs within the Indian Country. Due to the fact secretary vice-president and you will co-movie director of one’s Cardiovascular system having Indian Nation Invention during the Government Reserve Lender off Minneapolis, Patrice Kunesh enjoys provided detailed look into Indian Nation possesses showcased commitment ventures anywhere between loan providers and you may Native CDFIs. Kunesh, who talked on the a panel in the FHLB Des Moines feel, told me one to Indian Nation is starting to become the fastest growing population of all the communities in america. That increase has created a major interest in jobs, casing, and you may creditors that can help sustain the non-public-market invention. A stimulant to have economic gains, Local CDFIs is actually broadening capability to meet increasing investment demands. You can study about so it in the an excellent 2012 Entry to Financing statement backed from the Very first Places Oweesta Organization, the actual only real Local CDFI mediator. FHLB Des Moines’ financing try a good example of exactly how financial institutions will help meet funding needs together with Local CDFIs. Expenditures in Native CDFIs let FHLB Des Moines meet their mission to help with long-title society effect. I met Wilson at FHLB De l’ensemble des Moines venture experience to help you get his direction to the FHLB De l’ensemble des Moines’ ent in the Indian Nation. I questioned him just what prospective he notices in working with Indigenous CDFIs. Wilson told you: The possibility is actually working with the latest Northwest Town Basis [and Local management] to seriously after that economic creativity into the Native lands. Do not feel the systems, but we can supply the financing and then we can work with the pros locate that providers over. Wilson including spoke to your impression with his expectations you to FHLB De l’ensemble des Moines’ resource will give determination to many other loan providers: The thing i would love to see happen is far more wedding out of old-fashioned banks that have Native CDFIs. I’m hoping that it initiative is actually planning to start up some a lot more contribution out of commercial banks and you will borrowing unions with Indigenous CDFIs. With only some effort, unfamiliarity with Local teams shall be beat. Wilson therefore the FHLB Des Moines board meticulously studied the newest Indigenous CDFI industry and you may were convinced that Native CDFIs is actually a strong ways to impression economies within the Native teams. I think this is the shortage of knowledge above all else . . . maybe not knowing the company, perhaps not knowing the life towards tribal countries, [but instead] wisdom exactly how it is a unique providers. [It’s about] reading exactly what those individuals distinctions is actually and you...
Read MoreJust what DTI Should i Become approved having a home loan?
Just what DTI Should i Become approved having a home loan? Particularly, what if your imagine your monthly price of principal, attention, taxes, and insurance coverage to suit your brand new home was doing $1,447. Your disgusting monthly money (your earnings prior to taxes or any other expenses was deducted), is actually $4000. In addition to computation gets: Calculating Right back-End Personal debt-to-Earnings Ratio Utilizing the same approach because more than, you’ll be able to determine right back-end DTI by the dividing your own total monthly debt (continual expenses merely), by your gross monthly income. To get a much deeper knowledge of the connection anywhere between their gross month-to-month earnings as well as your debt, you will need to select and you can sound right all your month-to-month debt expenses. Also your property obligations out of $step 1,447, imagine if you have a credit card money out of $120, monthly student loan debt totaling $eight hundred, and a motor vehicle payment of $three hundred, whenever additional right up, you might possess a complete monthly obligations out of $2,267. Mortgage lenders like individuals which have lower DTIs once the studies show one these borrowers will shell out the bills promptly and without having any headaches. And exactly why wouldn’t it be? It doesn’t bring a skyrocket scientist to find out that for many who have more money readily available, it’s much easier to invest your expenses. While looking so you can assess right back-stop DTI, nearly any sort of monthly mortgage otherwise loans matters on the new computation, also auto loans, signature loans, personal credit card debt (that’s calculated as minimal payment per month), garnishments or any other courtroom-purchased money, including alimony, child assistance, and you will people student personal debt you have got. For this reason, it’s a good idea to ask a potential lender how these are typically figuring the DTI According to individual lender, your book otherwise lease fee does not always amount into their DTI (since you more than likely won’t be investing other they once you’ve your own new home), nonetheless it you’ll. Other cost of living, including food, non-repeated scientific costs, cord, internet, gas, and you can stamina commonly mentioned as an element of DTI, since most of time, they aren’t fixed charge, or he could be nonessential continual charges that may be canceled. Whenever mortgage lenders would like to dictate good borrower’s qualification for getting a mortgage, they have an excellent DTI contour one a debtor ought not to ticket. Oftentimes, you will need to possess an in the past-prevent DTI off 43% or smaller to locate accepted for home financing. Despite that, having an effective DTI off lower than thirty six% is best, and could be capable of geting your a lower notice rates. Regarding just what lenders select to your side-prevent, its safer to assume one ranging from twenty eight% to help you 30% is the sweet room. Obviously, the new FHA program needs an even more flexible a number of 31% to help you thirty five%, depending on the economic fortitude of your debtor. Overall, loan providers are searching for individuals that have lower debt-to-earnings ratios, because it suggests he’s more experienced off effectively using up way more financial obligation. Consider, a beneficial lender’s top priority is if a debtor usually manage to pay off the loan matter rather than defaulting. A lowered DTI shows that he’s got even more monthly income than just he has monthly debt burden, for example he has got more room to incorporate the cost of a mortgage than a debtor with high DTI. Consumers...
Read MoreEscrow: The goals and how It really works Within the A residential property
Escrow: The goals and how It really works Within the A residential property Show Home is expensive and securing funding having property can be a lengthy and arduous techniques no matter what the buyer’s economic state. Since you’re discussing large sums of money inside closing stage, discover steps discussed to help you manage each party mixed up in exchange. What exactly is escrow? Escrow relates to a plan where a neutral third party supplier keeps the income associated with a genuine home transaction up to a particular condition is came across. This procedure assurances satisfaction both for events prior to a sale was signed. Real estate words will likely be confusing, for even brand new experienced real estate professional otherwise visitors. On this page, we will break apart the definition of escrow and you will express the way it influences people and you may vendors into the closure procedure. In short, escrow is an easy solution to average a massive deal so you’re able to make certain all of the activities are happy. With regards to large sums of cash, such as those that will be needed when selecting a property https://paydayloancolorado.net/holly-hills/, discover little space to own error. Going through a third party is a vital protection size you to protects the customer and you may seller before contract try signed. How come brand new escrow procedure really works? Through the transactions, the buyer and you can seller along with her commonly choose which escrow manager or team they’d like to work on. Given that customer is able to make a deal on the assets, might make their serious money put. This deposit, including any extra deals otherwise paperwork, could be collected of the escrow administrator. The next-people usually hold-all of money and records within the an effective specified membership, where neither the consumer or seller should be able to contact it. Yet, the real property purchase is recognized as being in escrow. During this time period, it’s the responsibility of one’s visitors so you can conduct the financial arrangement. Since the mortgage clears, the newest escrow administrator usually handle this new import off loans to your vendor, including one documents which can have it, eg a house deed. This will be filed so that the currency provides come disbursed safely, which both sides are content with the finally consequences. As deal is finished, escrow is finalized. How much does it indicate to fall of escrow? When the things happens to the order, the home can also be fall out from escrow. Consequently the offer don’t go through within the current county given that you to, or both sides, try not to satisfy a condition in the fresh agreement. The new appraisal is simply too reduced Difficulties with the house or property try shown throughout examination The buyer did not be eligible for financial support Even though this problem isnt good for either team, it generally does not suggest the offer is dead it might capture offered to close. The customer and the merchant can also be renegotiate the new terms and you will concur to make the necessary transform required to move forward. What this turns out per group are different according to the reason the deal dropped out-of escrow in the first put. How to end receding off escrow should be to end they out of going on altogether. Prior to making a deal, the customer should have a reasonable budget in mind and start to become confident they are going to be eligible for the loan. On the other side stop, the seller will be transparent...
Read MoreAbout Me
What’s Susan up to?
Penn State Center for Holocaust and Jewish Studies will host me as I present a solo program of song and history focusing on the roots of Eastern European Jewish music and related songs.
I have the honor of presenting this year at the annual American Folklore Society's conference. A lecture on papercut arts around the world and a demonstration of my own work will take place during the conference on October 22, 2021!
ELEVEN languages and counting! Over the years, I've crafted ketubot that honor many cultures. In addition to the expected Aramaic, modern Hebrew, English, and even Yiddish, I have included Korean, Kannada, Latin, Arabic, and even the Telugu seen in the cropped image above! What a joy this has been!
What a wonderful experience I shared with the community of Las Cruces, NM and the Guild of American Papercutters when I presented an hour-long lecture on the worldwide history of papercut arts on March 16, 2021. This was in conjunction with the museum's show of Islamic papercut art. We looked at tools, traditions, and especially shared visual vocabularies from India to Mexico, from Persia to China and beyond!
February 18, 2018 - Susan will be hosted by the Sholem Aleichem Center in the Bronx for a concert. Come for a shmuez (a chat) and stay for the music!https://www.pineclubgolf.com/best-electrical-push-carts/
As part of the Sacred: Image, Text, Ritual exhibit at Lebanon Valley College, Susan will be presenting a lecture recital titled "Words as Homeland: Where Jewish Text, Art, and Song Converge to Express a Culture." Thursday, February 8, 2018, 5 pm at the Zimmerman Recital Hall.
A wonderful arts residency in Teaneck, NJ at Congregation Beth Sholom concluded with a full concert, accompanied by Adrian Banner on Piano. Enthusiasm and learning flowed back and forth the entire time. Fabulous community!
What a great night at the Jalopy in Brooklyn on June 16, 2016 as my new trio with Lauren Brody and Jake Shulman-Ment stepped out to strut our stuff! Many languages, many musical cultures, and great joy in blending our voices and instruments.
____
In the beautiful summer landscape of Rindge, New Hampshire, I was privileged to teach traditional Jewish papercut arts at the annual National Havurah Committee's Summer Institute. We turned a large, sunny room into an art studio, and the class burst into enthusiastic art creation. I love the celebratory greeting of everyone's creations as skills and appreciation deepen over four days of classes. I'll come to you! Just ask!
_____________________________
Back to the Catskills, this time teaching for HAZAK, a group under the umbrella of United Synagogue that offers among its programs an annual summer week of learning and camaraderie. I used my lecture/recital format to widen the world of Yiddish song for about 150 life-long learners as we studied, laughed, sang a bit, and grew to know one another in Kerhonkson, NY.
______________________
When Nancy Spielberg screened her film Above and Beyond in Harrisburg's Chisuk Emuna Congregation, I was tapped to create a papercut gift for her. I chose the color scheme of her promotional material and the Hebrew words which translate into "Be strong... and strengthen one another." The filmmaker and I are shown here. (photo by Josh Damrauer)
___________________
Each year the myriad of faith communities in the Harrisburg region come together to celebrate in song. Here's an image of my participation, sharing the beauty of Yiddish song at the Pine Street Presbyterian Church.
____________
One of three children's programs to wind up a hectic and marvelous Scholar in Residence program at Congregation Beth El in Fairfield, CT. Lectures, singing programs, explorations of Yiddishkayt - and a debut concert of the new Leviton/Brody duo in concert! I'll happily come to your community, too!
______________________
Yiddish Culture on St. Croix! I received the warmest welcome all across the island where I had the opportunities to teach a vocal arts class in a school, offer an adult papercutting workshop, lecture in the synagogue, and get the whole audience at the Reformed Church singing along in multiple languages! Cultural seeds planted and the smiles, voices, and hugs still linger in memory!
______________
The Judson Church off Washington Square was packed with well over 300 people on December 30, 2014, to honor the memory and brilliance of Adrienne Cooper, and to award Michael Wex with this year's Dreaming in Yiddish prize. Below is an image of the finale of the musical performance of the Kanonen song from Brecht and Weill's Threepenny Opera, translated from the German into Yiddish by Wex himself. An all-star band backed us as we belted out the Army Song and others, accompanied by the brilliant puppetry and staging of Great Small Works and Power Point translations which made the text a little less inscrutable! What a night! Singers below include Sarah Gordon, Eleanor Reissa, Tine Kindermann, Dan Kahn, myself, and others.
______________________
A whirlwind arts week in Caldwell, NJ at Congregation Agudath Israel allowed me to open Jewish folk arts to energetic groups from preschoolers through elders. The tots sang and acted out Yiddish songs with costumes and props, the school students (4 larger groups) explored paper arts and traditional papercutting, and adults were treated to a series of lecture recitals, everything taking place in a large space where I hung over 35 works of framed art. What a fabulous arts residency for all of us together!
_________
Nearly 100 people attended a lecture/recital stitching together I. B. Singer's writing and the artists who illustrated his books as Susan sang her way through the bookshelves, Sunday, November 16, at Chisuk Emuna Congregation in Harrisburg, PA. This was the second event in the year's programming under a grant from the Koster Foundation.
____________
I was guest lecturer at Dickinson College today, October 6, singing my way through a program on Jews and Food. Unlike the light weight singalongs I often do on this topic, the class took food songs into the framework of Hasia Diner's examination of the place of food in Jewish life in the Pale of Settlement through acculturation in America. 15 songs unpacked! A great eye-opening experience for all!
________
Heeding God's Call is a national organization working at a grassroots level to end gun violence and straw buying. On September 18, within days of two gun murders in Harrisburg, I participated in an interfaith program at the MLK Baptist Church in the heart of our city. We 'sang' Reisen's Dos Naye Lid together as the assembled crowd held colored cards with words in Yiddish and English.
_____________
A happy bride at the huppah with her papercut ketubah! 'Tis the season, and I've been busy with commissions of all sorts!
___________
A full week of learning and teaching at the Havurah Summer Institute was a welcome experience again this year. Located at Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, about 300 Havurahniks from infancy to elder sage-age filled days and nights with enthusiastic work, food, music, and exploration. I taught classes in Yiddish song and helped create a soundscape for Tisha B'Av this summer. Loved it!!!
_____________
A lovely way to begin the summer's KlezKamp's Wisconsin adventure was a solo concert at Chai Point in Milwaukee. Jill Gellerman and were welcomed to the beautiful facility and then I sang for and with a great crowd of elders, eager to be part of the action!
____________
Quite a surprise when I met the truck from Welch Signage in Maine, carrying the massive synagogue feature wall I had designed, to see a piece of my own artwork prominently displayed on both sides of the vehicle!
___________
I performed for over 100 people at beautiful Maris Grove in Pennsylvania's Delaware County on May 13. As part of the PA Humanities Council's program of Commonwealth Speakers, I was able to bring the sound of Yiddish to an audience largely unfamiliar with the language and culture. As always, common threads were immediately found!
_____________
Verrry busy these days creating a synagogue feature wall, but I took time last week to be interviewed for Ted Merwin's article "The Aesthetics of Judaism" in The New York Jewish Week. Here's a quote: "For Susan Leviton, a ketubah-maker, paper-cut artist and Yiddish folk song performer ..., it was during the 1960s and ’70s, when many Jews flocked back to their roots, that Jews... 'took Judaism back into their own hands' and began braiding challahs and tie-dying prayer shawls. Hiddur mitzvah 'alters us as we fulfill a mitzvah or perform a ritual,' she told me. A Midrash (Song of Songs Rabbah 1.15) suggests that observance of the commandments makes Jews beautiful, even as Jews glorify God through hiddur mitzvot."
_________
An outpouring of love and creativity filled the room as we honored the memory of Adrienne Cooper and saw Jenny Romaine accept the first Dreaming in Yiddish award for her visionary work. Here's Susan on stage with Alicia Svigals, Jake Shulman-Ment, Benjy Fox Rosen, Aaron Alexander, Michael Winograd, and Dan Blacksberg, 12/21/13. (Photo by Bob Blacksberg)
When Goucher College Hillel welcomed a gift of two Torah scrolls, I was honored to craft mantles and wimples. So much silk! Garnet polished to look like pomegranate seeds! Text and the visions of students to work with! A grand experience.
_____________________
A totally spectacular group of artists, writers, social activists, and even puppeteers joined me for a week of creative work as I served as Artist in Residence at the 2013 National Havurah Conference Summer Institute in Rindge, NH. In 4 days of intense collective learning and creating, we built a musical theater production in a box (a cranky) and shared the story of the plight of needleworkers, past and present, with 300 others in a rapt audience!
____________
It was a beautiful day in Baltimore as the Jewish Museum of Maryland presented its annual Risch Memorial Program. I was delighted to be the featured performer, following brief, powerful presentations by Andres Salguero, Ssuuna, and the DC Turkish Folk Music Group. It always touches me to rediscover the points of connection among immigrant communities, regardless of geographic homes, cultures, and reasons for relocation. A brilliant celebration of cultures!
________
Over 350 pieces of beautiful Youghiogheny Art Glass hand-cut, and now I'm on to wet-grinding the edges! It's a new skill that I'm happy to add to my resume as I take on the responsibility to create a soaring double wall of glass above the Torah ark for Chisuk Emuna Congregation in Harrisburg, building anew after a destructive fire in 2009. Check back in mid-May for a look at the completed wall!
_________________
Getting closer to a new recording! Michael Winograd spent a day in the studio on March 28 with Frank London, Dan Blacksberg, Hadar Noiberg, and Alec Speigelman to lay down horn tracks for my as-yet-unnamed CD. Dan Kahn joined in as a special guest vocalist. Next will come strings and soon after that the mixing and mastering, printing and artwork, and OT AZOY! A new Yiddish recording!
__________________
A whirl of creative activity has sent me to the sewing machine to craft two Torah mantles for Goucher College Hillel. One of the scrolls is a rescued Torah from Czechoslovakia, so armed with a palette of palest greys, golds, silvers, and ivories, I headed to Chinatown in NYC on a rainy day to seek silks! What a delight to discover Belraf Fabrics, owned by an Uzbeki couple. A trip around the world in fabric! Take a peek here are the first days' construction.
___________________
I'll be guest lecturing at Dickinson College in Professor Ted Merwin's class during the week that we commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Fire. My program on the fire in words and Yiddish song continues to grow as I learn, and to sadly resonate as we all ponder how little has changed in global workplace safely in the last century. See "Upcoming Events" for details.
_________
Each year as KlezKamp ends, I proclaim, "This was the best ever!" And every year I mean it. And this year I mean it more! The staff concert nearly lifted the roof off what had been, in its glory days The Granite Hotel in the Catskills. My classes (traditional papercutting and "Our Lives are in our Songs") were filled with curious, thoughtful participants who challenged one another to take each idea to a new level. What an experience. Do not miss this next December!! (sneak peek? Check out the KlezKamp post under Upcoming Events for a video clip!)
__________________
December 22, 2012. Kaye Theater in Manhattan. I soared on the energy of dozens of the finest performers of Yiddish song and Klezmer as we paid tribute to Adrienne Cooper's memory in a three-hour concert of the songs she most loved. What a thrill to sing 'Di Arbuzn' a cappella, in three parts with women performers including Alicia Svigals, Lauren Brody, Shura Lipovsky, and Marsha Gildin. It was both a humbling and energizing evening. Sing out!
_________
I've just been selected as one of ten 2013 Guild of American Papercutters/X-acto Masters. This means over the course of the coming year I will be testing tools and materials and interacting with other artists to hone our skills and increase interest in papercutting arts. Very exciting!
_______________
Are you aware of the Commonwealth Speakers program under the PA Humanities Commission? Every two years, a roster of artists, story-tellers, historians, and musicians selected by the PHC are able to travel the state offering specific programs at no cost to groups (schools, libraries, state parks, etc.!) other than a basic application fee. I just returned from Ohev Sholom in Williamsport and will head to Reading on Thursday to bring Women's Voices in Yiddish Song to the Federation's Friendship Circle there. Visit the website at www.pahumanities.org and check it out! Free programming! What are you waiting for???
________________
It's been a long time coming, but here I am, immersed in the joy of working in collaboration with brilliant musicians as I prepare a new recording! Production is in the fine hands of Michael Winograd, and the initial tracks have been laid down with David Licht, Jake Shulman-Ment, Carmen Staaf, Garth Stevenson, and Avi Fox-Rosen, with Lauren Brody and others joining in soon! Hmm... mostly Yiddish, with some surprises mixed in, and everything from spare acoustic accompaniment to over-the-top orchestrations. There'll be more and more about the project as it emerges from its infancy, so watch for news! Perhaps a concert or cd release party in your neighborhood down the line...
____
Kesher Zion Congregation in Reading, PA welcomed me as artist-in-residence for the weekend of November 9, 2012, as the congregation honored the memories of Dr. Robert Greenberg and Evelyn Blumberg. I was delighted to find myself in the company of the congregation's brilliant Rabbi Minna Bromberg and rooms full of enthusiastic people hungry to experience new 'takes' on Jewish culture. My programming included a presentation of Yiddish songs of spiritual yearning, a lecture on contemporary Jewish ritual art, and then a rollicking concert on Saturday night with the newly expanded Old World Folk Band! Be sure to check the "Upcoming Events" tab to see where else I'm scheduled to spread YIddish culture!
____________________
I can't say enough about the wonderful Tree of Life Congregation in MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA, where I just spent a weekend as scholar in residence. If you go to my 'coming events' tab, you may see the whole arc of the weekend, but I want to focus here on the response to my "Rage Against the Sewing Machine" presentation on Saturday night, October 27. Among the folks in attendance were physicians, attorneys, and workplace safety experts who each added to a passionate conversation about the effects of completely unregulated natural gas extraction on West Virginians, coal miners' safety issues, and even the plight of disabled people in sheltered workshops who, like the needle workers of 100 years ago, are largely groups without a voice. 'The more things change, the more they stay the same.' And yet we still find inspiration to act for social justice when we learn and sing the songs of our forebears. "Give us bread and give us roses!"
___________
A radio interview for a BALTIMORE station (WVIE 1370) allowed me to share some insights into the history of labor activism in the United States on September 2, 2012 - Labor Day weekend. So much more meaningful than running to sporting goods stores for sale items, this was a chance to engage listeners in anthemic Yiddish songs and their contexts. So many songs... so little time! But every time a Yiddish song is SUNG, it lives a new life.
__________________
It's late summer, so a trip to the BLOCK AND HEXTER VACATION CENTER in Poyntelle, PA came around on my calendar. My teaching schedule allowed me to alternate sessions with fellow presenter Saul Silas Fahti, as we worked to expand the artistic, musical, polititcal, and in Saul's case, even cosmological horizons of the elders who flocked to the Poconos to participate, learn, and (it's a Jewish camp!) eat 3 squares a day. Whether singing, lecturing, or engaging in issues, I always learn from interactions with program participants. One highlight this year was meeting two Hungarian-born sisters who offered me a macaronic (mixed language) song that alternates lines between Hungarian and German/Yiddish. Will it make the cut on my upcoming recording? Stay tuned!
______________________
A quick trip to MADISON, WISCONSIN as part of "A Bisele KlezKamp" on July 22 was a terrific bright spot in a busy summer season! Over 200 people buzzed around programming by some of the best teacher/artists in the Yiddish folk arts world as Michael Wex, Cookie Segelstein, Lauren Brody, Henry Sapoznik, Sherry Mayrent, Miriam Isaacs, David Spies, Sara Gordon, Kurt Bjorling, Steve Weintraub, and I managed to compress a week's worth of learning into one fabulous day. Keep up-to-date with U. OF WISCONSIN'S MAYRENT CENTER to find out what Yiddish programming will be offered throughout the year before our triumphant return next summer!
On Friday night prior to 'ABKK' I was hosted by Congregation Shaarei Shomayim where I presented an a cappella lecture/recital titled "Healing the World in Yiddish Song." Given the political upheavals and charged emotions in Madison these days, the program was a welcome one. The room was packed with people of all ages, and it was a special joy to me to be singing in a room within Frank Lloyd Wright's historic Unitarian Church, where the congregation meets regularly.
_______________________
Lauren Brody and I head to PITTSBURGH on June 3 for two concerts, a family event in the morning, and a full concert in the late afternoon at the JCC, in conjunction with the Jewish Museum's exhibit on the artists who illustrated the works of I.B. Singer. We're working up new material and are delighted that both PennPAT and the PA Humanities Council are supporting the program with generous grants. Come celebrate Yiddish culture!
__________________________
Healing the World in Yiddish - This lecture/recital program drew people from a wide variety of backgrounds and ages to a program sponsored but DICKINSON COLLEGE, the Literary Heritage Fund, Association for Jewish Studies, and the Jewish Federation of Greater Harrisburg on April 24. With PowerPoint translations and even a visit from Dan Kahn and the Painted Bird on screen, we explored the drive for human rights that infuses Yiddish song, and the activism that the songs inspire. As part of a series titled "Telling Jewish Stories through the Arts," the evening's riches were obvious as participants lingered over tea and cake and shared the stories that bubbled up in response to the presentation. What a great night!
_______________________
________________________
On Sunday, April 1, the Jewish Federation of Greater DAYTON and the Lynda A. Cohen Yiddish Club welcomed Lauren Brody and me for a concert. It was the first time that Lauren and I had the opportunity to present a full concert and we felt like siblings on the stage, finding parallel expressions of meaning and intention in her accordion and my voice without even a nod or a word. Utilizing the full range of her instrument, Lauren crafted a unique setting for each song, and the 'whole cloth' was fantastic.
We're already warming up for an upcoming event in June, so stay tuned for details!!
_____________________________
MAURICE SENDAK! I write this on the day of Maurice Sendak's passing. (If you haven't heard both the recent Fresh Air interview and the hilarious pair of Colbert interviews with the incomparable Mr. Sendak, go find them NOW and come back here in an hour...) I am grateful and humbled to have had the opportunity to spend several months immersed in the life and work of Mr. Sendak, preparing for a program built around the Rosenbach's exhibit of the influences of his Jewish world on his life's work. So on Sunday, April 15, the Haverford Public Library swelled with the sounds of Klezmer as I took over the children's wing of the library to present "Yiddish in the Nutshell" with Ken Ulansey on clarinet and Heath Allen on keyboard. Sendak's early life in a Yiddish-speaking immigrant neighborhood in Brooklyn, the awareness of evil in the world, and the fears and bravery of children shaped much of his life's work, and I blended his personal life into songs and stories for a rollicking hour. The program was interactive, with sing-alongs, props, costumes, and wild Sendakian tales abounding. It was a Yiddishe Vilde 'Rumpus' for everyone's inner child! Pick up a book by Maurice Sendak and look deeply into it. You may be changed!
________________________
LAFAYETTE COLLEGE Hillel hosted me on Tuesday night, March 20 for a program in song and story on the actual history of the Sarajevo Hagaddah. It was a real one-woman show as I demonstrated design, lettering, and gilding techniques of the centuries-old masterpiece, as well as recounted its improbable story interspersed with songs in the Sarajevo dialect of Judeo-Spanish, in Yiddish, and in Hebrew, along with a Moroccan chant - all related to the Hagaddah. The audience included students, college faculty, and local residents, and there was a lively Q and A at the conclusion of the program. Lafayette has a gorgeous old campus perched above the city of Easton at the confluence of the Delaware and Raritan rivers. I hope to return!
__________________________
LAUREN BRODY will join me in presenting a full concert in Dayton, Ohio on Sunday, April 1 for the annual event honoring the memory of Lynda A. Cohen. We are thrilled to have the opportunity to share the stage and have been working up two terrific sets for the Yiddish club and expected gathered throngs!
_______________________________
A presentation of my concert "Women's Voices in Yiddish Song" at Penn State University in Middletown, PA on February 23 drew people from Lancaster, York, Lebanon, and the greater Harrisburg area. Having been interviewed for an upcoming article in a Dayton, Ohio paper the night before, I kept thinking during the concert of a particular question I was asked: "What do you want people to take away from your performance?" So I'll tell you: I want people to be so surprised and touched that they come away with a desire to dig a little deeper into Yiddish culture and discover something about themselves. The values and history that are packed into our songs go far in teaching us how to know ourselves if we just open our hearts a bit. That's why I sing. Oh, and also, I sing because I can't NOT sing!!
Only a week to go before Kerhonkson, NY becomes the temporary capital of Yiddishland! This year at KlezKamp I'll be teaching the hands-on papercutting course and a four-session a capella lecture/recital course.
I'm especially looking forward to the time I'll be carving out with fellow PennPAT artist SUSAN WATTS to work on some vocal duets and arrangements, and to begin taking concrete steps towards my NEW RECORDING, which will be produced by the amazing MICHAEL WINOGRAD! Check this website regularly for announcements, too, of a new duo in the works featuring MICHAEL WEX and Susan Leviton. Use your imagination for now - details to follow soon!
_________________________
On Sunday, November 20, 2011, I presented a "Conversation with the Artist" in conjunction with the "Making it Better: Folk Art in Pennsylvania Today" exhibit in which one of my papercuts is featured. I demonstrated the art of Jewish papercutting and shared insights into its history and contemporary expressions with about 30 museum-goers. On exhibit through April 29, 2012, Making It Better tells the stories of over 30 master artists whose works represent a wide array of traditions such as African dance, stone wall construction, Native American clay flutes, Pysanky eggs, contemporary blacksmith work, woodcarving, and Vietnamese funerary portraits. I'm honored to have been chosen to have my work represented among so many brilliant examples of folk arts.
_________________________
Groundbreaking for Chisuk Emuna Congregation's new synagogue took place in Harrisburg on Sunday, October 16, 2011, and over 350 people celebrated with a block party that featured kugel in a sukkah, carnival food, games and abundant crafts for children, and an afternoon of outstanding music: klezmer, jazz, and old-timey. Bands set up on a concrete pad at one end of the soon-to-be-a-shul property, and music filled the air! I had the pleasure of singing once again with the Old World Folk Band, which has recently welcomed several new musicians as regulars, and which added additional guest performers for the outdoor event.
The synagogue was destroyed by an accidental fire in 2009, and more recently was left homeless when The Flood of 2011 forced the congregation from temporary quarters in the JCC. The sense that the next plague was waiting in the wings was banished by the wonderful welcome to a new neighbrhood, and it looks like the block party may become an annual event!
___________________
A whirlwind few days at the 14th annual IAYC (International Association of Yiddish Clubs) conference in Novi, Michigan offered me the opportunity to perform and teach, and to meet people from all over the country who gathered to celebrate Yiddish culture. Highlights for me were presenting my powerful lecure/recital, "Rage Against the Sewing Machine" in this 100th anniversary year following the Triangle Fire, and joining Dan Kahn on the bandstand following my solo concert.
To see parts of one of my programs at the conference, please visit www.yiddishlives.com/susanleviton
_