Four particular attract costs, around three categories of new rules
Four particular attract costs, around three categories of new rules Attract ‘s the count covered accessibility lent financing.The new tax treatment of focus a beneficial taxpayer will pay or accrues is based towards the variety of desire. Relating to individual income tax, really desire might be classified among four types: Certified education loan desire; Licensed quarters notice; Money interest; Company focus; and you may Private (consumer) attract. Accredited student loan appeal and you will business notice try allowable ahead of adjusted gross income (AGI, above the line), licensed residence attention and money interest was deductible out-of AGI (beneath the range), and private interest is not allowable. You’ll find time circumstances toward when to deduct certified house attract, funding notice, and you may company desire. Discussions and you may examples on this page have a tendency to make reference to “2017” and “2018 and just after” as the beginning in 2018, the outdated rules are suspended having 7 years (2018 as a result of 2025). one in theory, and also as the internal Funds Code now reads, the fresh 2017 regulations might be restored inside 2026. Notice are categorized in addition mortgage proceeds are used. dos As an instance, in the event that mortgage continues are widely used to purchase money spent or business possessions, the eye reduced try classified while the investment appeal otherwise organization interest. Doing $2,500 of great interest towards certified college loans is deductible prior to AGI. step 3 As a professional education loan, that loan need to meet the after the criteria: 4 It ought to be used for certified knowledge expenditures, we.age., tuition, area, board, guides, gadgets, and other expected expenses, such transportation, and they expenses must be paid in this quite a long time prior to otherwise after the taxpayer takes out the mortgage; It must be useful brand new qualified knowledge costs of your own taxpayer, his or her companion, otherwise a person who is the taxpayer’s founded in the event the mortgage was taken out; and you can The fresh pupil need to be enlisted about half-amount of time in an application leading to a degree, including a graduate degree, and other approved educational credential on an accredited college or university, university, professional university, or any other blog post-second informative place which is eligible to participate in a U.S. Agencies off Education beginner help program. Nontaxable employer-provided informative advice gurus; The fresh $833 amount of the fresh phaseout is determined because the $dos,500 (limit level of student loan focus) ? [$5,100 (matter AGI exceeds lower end of assortment) ? $15,000 (a number of money for phaseout)] The brand new deduction to have attract with the an experienced student loan isnt designed for someone who (1) is said as the another’s dependent, 8 otherwise (2) is actually hitched and you will documents using the processing position out-of partnered filing separately. 9 Grams enjoys modified revenues (AGI) out of $70,100000. Grams can be deduct attention out-of $step one,667, determined as follows: $dos,five-hundred restrict number of student loan desire – $833 phaseout = $step one,667 allowable education loan interest. Analogy 1: Grams, a single taxpayer, paid $step three,100 interesting for the a qualified education loan Mortgage notice on the a professional home ten are allowable out of AGI because an itemized deduction. There’s two sorts of qualified household loans in Central desire – order indebtedness attract and you will domestic – collateral indebtedness attract. 11 Acquisition indebtedness describes personal debt one (1) was obtain to acquire, make, or dramatically improve an experienced quarters, and you will (2) is actually secure because of the one...
Read MoreSystems for using your Va Mortgage to build Wealth
Systems for using your Va Mortgage to build Wealth Score a beneficial $695 mastercard yearly payment waived in my own Best Army Borrowing from the bank Notes Direction This new Platinum Credit away from American Express cards try annual commission waived having armed forces. Terms and conditions implement. Military Currency Manual possess partnered that have CardRatings for our coverage out-of charge card things. Military Currency Instructions and you can CardRatings will get discovered a payment away from card issuers. Opinions, studies, analyses & information would be the author’s alone, and now have not been assessed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities. Thank you for supporting my independent, veteran had webpages. In person, I have found home too tiring having during energetic responsibility and you will indicates really army servicemembers to help you rent during effective duty. I prefer my personal opportunities effortless, discount, automated, and you may diversified. Having said that, I really like holding more views to my website to increase your knowledge and determine your self road to economic liberty. Of several productive obligation servicemembers and you may veterans have become economic profitable compliment of property control. Steeped Carey is considered the most her or him. Millennials have lower rates off home ownership than prior 20 th 100 years generations at the same years. Huge informative costs, postponed domestic creation, additionally the quick increase in metropolitan construction costs have got all slowed down Millennial house purchases. Systems for making use of your own Virtual assistant Mortgage to create Money Inspite of the financial success of Millennial households, such three points have actually made it more complicated to possess Millennials to help you help save the new off costs had a need to pick a home. Veterans possess a leg on most other Millennial customers. Its the means to access a mortgage supported by the new Department regarding Seasoned Affairs (VA), labeled as a beneficial Va home loan. This allows these to purchase land rather than a deposit just like the the Virtual assistant claims 25% of financing. In a world of $five hundred,one hundred thousand apartments, that makes a big change! You might probably already tell that Va Financing are an amazing work with americash loans Hamilton, but when you is looking for economic liberty into the a costly urban area, how do you obtain the most from it? Inner-Urban area Virtual assistant Financing Domestic Cheat As the Higher Recession, you have got most likely pointed out that the country’s prominent urban area parts has viewed homes costs sky-skyrocket. You will find a multitude of factors. Helping costs provides driven designers to target luxury property, renting, and you will condominiums and you will houses design enjoys lagged once the economy regained its ground just after 2008. Maybe above all, since cost savings began to expand perform once more, a few of the progress took place towns and cities which have shortages out of houses inventory. Construction request in several towns dwarfs houses also provide. During my market into the Arizona, DC, the fresh new average cost of a beneficial townhome try $752,three hundred! To own an FHA mortgage which is good $twenty six,330 downpayment instead factoring in conclusion can cost you (step 3.5% down). Having a normal mortgage, that’s an impressive $150,460 (20% down) in advance of closing costs. If you qualify for good Virtual assistant Financing, this type of frightening down payment amounts are not a problem to you personally. Come across a house that lead to having roommates (a lot of bed rooms/bathrooms, suitable design) and you may live with your buddies. After...
Read MoreSimply click more resources for Financial Borrowing Certificate (MCC)
Simply click more resources for Financial Borrowing Certificate (MCC) First-mortgage Financing System If you have ever wished for home ownership but thought that buying a home are a tiny outside the reach, new Brevard County Houses Finance Power (the fresh new Expert) better to to have into Owning a home Program. The newest Power already now offers a 30 12 months, repaired rate home loan (actual Apr to be expose of the bank) which have down payment and you may closure rates recommendations on the level of as much as $15,000 in the way of a 0% next home loan. In addition, the fresh borrower may discover home financing certification as high as $dos,one hundred thousand a year for the longevity of the loan. Who qualifies? People should be earliest-go out home buyers (haven’t got an ownership need for the number one home getting the past three years). That it demands is actually waived getting certified armed forces pros Client must have a minimum FICO score regarding 640, and you will meet other standard borrowing criteria. Non-Address Area: Discover home income constraints: 1-dos People Household Income Limit = $82,three hundred step three or higher People Family Income Constraints = $94,645 Target Urban area: 1-dos Individual House Earnings Maximum = $98,760 step three or higher Individual Household Money Limitations = $115,220 The price of the property might not meet or exceed $349,526 from inside the a non-target town otherwise $427,198 from inside the a goal town Exactly what are the steps in the method? Contact an acting bank (below) so they will get pre-be considered your for a loan. The lender should determine their qualification for a financial loan and you may notify your. Additionally, you will be required to supply the financial with other suggestions needed. Money come into the a first-already been first-served foundation. What is actually Recapture Tax? The advantages provided by so it mortgage are considered a national subsidy of the mortgage. Government law requires a beneficial recapture of some of your work with if the all of the around three of your following the try genuine: 1. The property ceases to-be your primary residence for the very first full 9 years of possession; dos. You will be making an internet cash into business of the home; step 3. Your family members earnings is higher than the new allowable income during the brand new purchases. The income tax preparer will help you with determining for folks who owe recapture taxation. Address Areas: In the event that a borrower sales a home for the an objective city, this new borrower’s money tends to be high, the purchase price maximum are higher together with very first time homebuyer requirement was waived. You will find four federally designated address section inside the Brevard Condition. He could be census tracts 607, , 626 and . Census area 607 is situated in Titusville. It is an irregularly molded system that is bordered for the west by Norwood Method, Playground Method, Barna Method and you may Age Avenue, toward south by the Whispering Slopes Path, Time Path and you may Sycamore Street, towards the east of the Fl Eastern Shore Railway and you can S. Deleon Method as well as on brand new northern because of the Northern Washington Method. Census tract is found in Cocoa. Its an enthusiastic irregularly molded region which is bordered to the northern by Dixon Blvd., to your west by Clearlake Highway, towards south from the College Road as well as on brand new east from the this new Fl East Coastline Railway. Census area 626 is...
Read MorePersonal Education loan Software & Underwriting Process
Personal Education loan Software & Underwriting Process Underwriting a student loan is a bit unique of other designs of personal debt. Having private loans, you nevertheless still need to undergo an affirmation techniques, however with federal fund you can find smaller strict criteria. Of a lot otherwise the enterprises looked give compensation so you can LendEDU. This type of commissions is actually how exactly we look after our very own free services for consumerspensation, along with occasions regarding in the-breadth editorial look, find where & how businesses show up on our site. To the cost of university fees increasing each year about Joined States, more college students end playing with college loans so you can let spend the money for will set you back. You can search to own scholarships and grants and you can save up up to possible, however can still has actually a financing gap. That is where making an application for student education loans can be found in. That have personal figuratively speaking, even if, there is certainly an underwriting techniques. This really is similar to financial underwriting otherwise underwriting to have an vehicle or unsecured loan, however, you will find distinctions too. What’s Financing Underwriting? When lenders try to determine whether you are a good exposure before you make a last decision, they take you courtesy an underwriting process. This process is made to determine the possibility you will have the ability to pay the loan. Your credit score try removed, together with your credit history, lender comments, income, and you can taxation statements. That it paperwork is oftentimes thought to check if you’ll end up able to handle monthly obligations subsequently. To your personal education loan underwriting techniques, the school choice and you may significant is likewise experienced, instead of a home loan software. Read, even when, that with federal figuratively speaking, there isn’t an equivalent underwriting techniques. Backed and you will Unsubsidized Direct Funds are around for student and scholar pupils, no matter what borrowing condition. Government Along with financing getting parents and graduate students, even if, manage wanted a limited credit score assessment. When bringing private student education loans, you’ll end up at the mercy of the underwriting procedure, just like you would certainly be for those who wished to obtain playing with other kinds of loans. Here’s the action-by-action process of the borrowed funds software and you can underwriting processes for an effective private student loan. loans credit score 600 Important information add As you submit an application for a personal student loan, you need to gather certain files while having determining suggestions readily available on the underwriting procedure. Before you over a credit card applicatoin getting a student-based loan, make sure to feel the pursuing the suggestions available: Term Birthdate Societal Cover count Driver’s license or other state-provided ID matter Current physical address Phone number Current email address Money Loans payments You might also be required to upload most files, such as for instance duplicates regarding documents you to definitely substantiate their states. Like, taxation statements and pay stubs, together with financial comments, may help financing underwriters make certain your earnings. Your own financial statements may also help underwriters find out how much your owe and you may everything you shell out monthly on your own financial obligation otherwise destination any possible warning flags, and therefore makes reference to the debt-to-income ratio. Whenever trying to get individual college loans, you also need to fairly share hence colleges you will be applying to, simply how much you want in order to use, of course you expect in order to scholar....
Read MoreI am an agent. So what does this mean to own my team?
I am an agent. So what does this mean to own my team? Among recent homebuyers, almost you to-one-fourth of all home buyers, and you may 37% out of very first-big date people, has student loan personal debt, which have a consistent level of $29,000. Alot more distressing, 61% away from non-homeowning millennials asserted that education loan personal debt is actually delaying their ability to get a home. Predicated on a current NAR learn from education loan obligations, 51% of all the education loan people state its financial obligation put-off her or him away from to find a home. Thirty-six percent of student loan loans owners state student loan financial obligation defer their ily member’s domestic, a percentage one increases in order to 52% certainly Black colored loans holders. To address the latest growing debt obligations, NAR helps an effective multipronged strategy. Economic knowledge are going to be longer to help pupils as they deal with behavior throughout the investment their education, if you find yourself help apps will be basic. In the event you keep financial obligation, opportunities to combine and re-finance obligations at straight down prices would let debt holders all the way down monthly financial obligation repayments, create highest purchases, and then make smart lives solutions. Ultimately, NAR favors expanding income tax preferences to have companies whom let personnel that have their college student loans plus income tax forgiveness to possess loans owners who have the loans forgiven otherwise reduced because of the its company. What’s the simple topic? Research will continue low interest vacation loan to imply that the new proceeded rise in college student loans plus a failing labor field features a long-identity affect the ability of earliest-go out homebuyers, such as lower income users, in order to be eligible for mortgages. Each one of these possible individuals find a significant percentage of the full month-to-month loans contains education loan payments. Concurrently, lower price part belongings accessible to pick reaches historical lows and that subsequent rates aside audience which have student loan debt since the home values still rise. While a lot of the study and concentrate might have been with the perception in order to Millennial borrowers, the studies are appearing one student loan debt burdens borrowers away from all of the years, together with Middle-agers and you can Age bracket-X consumers who will be shouldering the extra weight of one’s scholar financial obligation due to their pupils otherwise their particular once back once again to school blog post-recession. NAR studies have shown you to scholar loans negatively affects the skill of potential house buyers to store to have or see advance payment criteria. College student loans is also which have an effect on possible homebuyers’ ability so you can qualify for a house on account of higher personal debt-to-income levels. Such facts have limited their the means to access affordable financial options needed to invest in a home. Regardless of if an enormous most borrowers was responsible and you will patient in making their student loan money, their capability to store having priorities such as for example emergency offers, scientific costs, and you will off payments have become more complicated and you can impact its behavior instance to buy a property. NAR Rules: NAR highly supporting coverage proposals to let student loan consumers so you can refinance on the lower interest rates and to improve mortgage apps. On top of that, NAR aids rules proposals that bring student loan simplification, clearness and you will knowledge. After that, NAR helps formula giving tax rescue so you’re able to beginner obligations holders, and to...
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.
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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!
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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.
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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)
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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.
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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.
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A happy bride at the huppah with her papercut ketubah! 'Tis the season, and I've been busy with commissions of all sorts!
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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!!!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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."
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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.
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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.
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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!)
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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!
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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!
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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???
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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...
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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!
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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!"
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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.
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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!
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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!!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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!
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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.
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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!
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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
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