3. Money The Mexico Property which have Pesos Playing with a north american country Banks
3. Money The Mexico Property which have Pesos Playing with a north american country Banks Cash-aside refinance facing your current financial. Family Security Loan: For those who very own property, up coming normally you have some degree away from collateral, and can use you to definitely equity to obtain a loan for another assets. You’re getting that loan which have a fixed interest off to six% may be greatest. Domestic Equity Personal line of credit: A property equity line of credit (HELOC) is in numerous ways just like a property collateral financing, however it is a much more flexible alternative. Personal loans give lower rates of interest than just credit cards, however it will most likely feel more than home financing. Luckily for us you don’t have to end up being a mexican resident to get that loan away from a mexican lender. Mortgage loans when you look at the Mexico include significantly less aggressive because the the individuals in the us. Mexico banks anticipate that have good migrant charge (an enthusiastic FM2 visa) or even in some cases, a non-migrant charge (an FM3 charge). Banking companies for the Mexico merely money the revenue away from real estate you to is already named (a preexisting family). And you can Mexico banking companies do not render home financing with the the new possessions or pre-build projects usually. North american installment loan Augusta country banking companies merely render international customers a home loan matter worthy of fifty% of one’s existing house’s value. Not the common 80 to 90% out-of a residence’s value particularly Us or Canada. For folks who earn within the USD, upcoming borrowing inside the pesos are an attractive solution, especially if you assume brand new peso to help you depreciate a condition which carry out lead to a total lower percentage along the future. 4. Investment together with your 401K/RRSP having fun with a home-led IRA having USD When you yourself have an effective 401K/RRSP and wish to put money into a house (or other international investments) without having to pay taxation, you could potentially think money that have like an account playing with a home-directed IRA. 5. Get across edging financing let overseas buyers funds a house within the Mexico Just like the identity indicates, these businesses help people with foreign playing cards, financial institutions, and you can bank account to get assets in Mexico. There are options for mix-border investment to invest in characteristics inside the Mexico. Seek information and inquire enough inquiries whenever evaluating the different financial institutions. 6. Money plus family and friends One of the growing preferred a way to finance property in Mexico is actually split funding the property. This really is which have a buddy, a member of family, or any other type of partner. seven. Funds with Cryptocurrency A promising treatment for financing the to shop for in your home from inside the Mexico is utilizing cryptocurrencies. Flipping things intangible towards the a real resource is not only wise it seems sensible. Specific buyers choose finance full otherwise short parts having fun with cryptocurrencies. Having fun with cryptocurrency to broaden your investment profile when you look at the a house is getting an objective. Pick Your own Mexico Assets Today having Caribe Deluxe Home Mexico With regards to to shop for Mexican a house, it is convenient from inside the bucks. Creator capital can be obtained and requirements a big down payment. Playing with North american country banking companies is a challenge, as it needs a lot of documentation and you may patience. I encourage you contact our realtors who...
Read MoreWas a mortgage most readily useful-upwards or a personal loan best option to own home improvement funds?
Was a mortgage most readily useful-upwards or a personal loan best option to own home improvement funds? Q&A: Exactly what suits you finest is based on your financial things and you can discipline We have been trying to do some work with our house (approx. 30k) and you may trying to figure out the best way to funds they. I have equity within our household: our very own financial has actually 380,000 a fantastic having 30 years left into the property appreciated at the 650,100000. This is certainly all of our permanently house so we won’t getting selling they. Is actually i far better create towards all of our home loan or try to make a consumer loan functions over a shorter time period? You have got read me state many times you to a mortgage loan ‘s the most affordable currency you can actually ever get and that’s real. But should it be constantly your best option to find the best right up finance might be off one another to your punishment and the character of the current mortgage. You intend to blow a good contribution in your home but, toward foundation that you find it as your forever home and this that it funding will presumably enables you to create modifications that make it so much more suitable for a single day to day traditions otherwise energy efficiency, you to definitely appears like a no-brainer. You should be able to find a mortgage rate of around dos.2 percent or reduced out of your most recent home loan seller, aside from exactly who he is Figuring out how best to invest in such as tasks are an intelligent 1st step. I am and when the choices are open, considering the equity you really have throughout the property with no information away from you that there is anything to weaken their credit record. Bringing a premier-right up mortgage for the financial can be you can easily. Adding 30,000 for the most recent financial manage give the mortgage in order to worth back above the 60 per cent ratio below that greatest also provides are available, but not by the far, just fractionally over 63 percent. Price of credit You should be capable of getting a mortgage price of about 2.2 % or less out of your latest mortgage vendor, despite which he’s. If you can’t, you should likely to be considering changing home mortgage company in any event no matter what funding of the home improve venture. Based on , you need to be capable safer an increase as low as 1.9 per cent with Bank away from Ireland’s four-seasons environmentally friendly rates. In any event, on 2.2 per cent, you’d be investing step one,552 and change thirty day period on the topped up financial of 410,100000 over the thirty years. That’s a growth from the step 1,438 that you’d pay at the same interest to have your existing 380,000 mortgage. To make certain that try an incredibly under control monthly raise from . But not, because you are paying down new 30,one hundred thousand over the 30-12 months identity of one’s home loan near to your financial publicity, the cost of the borrowed funds in the focus percentage terminology referred to as price of borrowing might be just below ten,888. If you were to go the non-public mortgage route, the price of credit is dependent on the period over and that we want to pay-off the loan. Signature loans If you were to examine an effective four-season name, a loan repayment calculator available with the crowd and you...
Read MoreUnderstanding Underwriting as well as the Financing Recognition Techniques
Understanding Underwriting as well as the Financing Recognition Techniques The part of an underwriter is a must regarding financial world. Regarding the greatest terms, underwriters test thoroughly your profit to choose the quantity of chance a bank would be taking up during the granting your a loan. Whether or not perhaps daunting at first sight, focusing on how brand new underwriting process and you will loan acceptance performs are going to be good advantage when entering the mortgage or refinancing processes. Here’s a preliminary summary of the latest acceptance process, the latest documentation you’ll want to bring, therefore the errors to eliminate. Credit report Really require a minimum rating away from 620 to be eligible for a traditional mortgage. Your own underwriter can look at your credit history to choose how you made money, how fast you’ve got paid down expenses, and how of many lines of credit you have unlock. Debt-to-Income Proportion Is accepted getting a installment loans, Birmingham traditional home loan, the debt-to-income (DTI) proportion need normally end up being below 43% . It indicates the monthly payments towards costs like student loans, vehicles payments, credit cards, an such like. dont meet or exceed 43% of one’s qualifying pre-income tax month-to-month income. It figure signals to the underwriter exactly how much additional loans-in the way of home financing-you should be capable reasonably afford. Downpayment Conventional lenders generally require a minimum advance payment regarding step three%, though some financing (the latest Va Home loan for example) features more standards. The higher the newest advance payment you can bring, the latest quicker exposure your show the lending company. Money and you will A position Background Underwriters usually discover just how long you’ve been working, the amount of money you will be making, and how youre paid (each hour, income, etcetera.). Having a constant and you will typical money is crucial if you find yourself trying to get home financing. In fact, independent builders no longer working getting an employer not as much as an excellent W9, normally have to exhibit a few full many years of income to own loan recognition. Household Appraisal After you create a deal to the property, the brand new underwriter will demand an assessment of the house examine the sales rates so you can the market price. If your conversion process price is higher than the market industry really worth, granting your home financing becomes more away from a risk into the lender. If a property does not appraise on conversion rate regarding bargain, the consumer and you can seller need certainly to reach a contract about in order to bridge the newest pit. Records You want The duration of the underwriting process can also be basically start around a great week to a few months. They have a tendency to depends on exactly how much monetary advice discover so you’re able to evaluate. To present all of your current economic records to your financing administrator on your first head to may help rate the method upwards. These records might include: 1099 variations and you can profit and loss statements to have notice-functioning anybody Bank account comments Divorce proceedings decrees confirming alimony and kid help repayments Noted lease money Records toward marketing regarding property Letters out of factor to possess borrowing from the bank mishaps Proof of outstanding, long-title bills Proof of public shelter otherwise impairment income Recent shell out stubs Missteps to quit While in Escrow The financial may run an endorsement take a look at at the start of your own mortgage processes, along with right before closure. Or no of one’s...
Read MoreFind out more for our full run down out-of regional applications
Find out more for our full run down out-of regional applications Homebuyer Software of the Location within the Georgia When you are statewide software can present you with a foot right up as you rating on the property steps, there are lots of regional homebuyer guidance software across the Georgia you to are worth researching. The new software is actually a combined wallet most are only for very first-big date homebuyers otherwise anyone who has never possessed a house regarding past three years, if you find yourself a number of shift the main focus to almost any homeowners that out of a lowered-money group. Athens Are you home-hunting inside Athens? The newest university town, set regarding the northeastern is at from Georgia, are a vibrant area steeped during the community off galleries so you’re able to theatres and you will regional breweries. The fresh Athens Homes Power operates the newest Operate We Home program geared with the helping homeowners as long as it secure sixty% so you’re able to 80% of your area’s average income (AMI). The program emphasizes it is helping working group earning a moderate annual money, who happen to be clients trying reach the milestone out-of homeownership. In place of expenses lease, these types of homebuyers is also safe an operate I family, created, renovated and you can ended up selling from the AHA. Month-to-month home loan repayments, and additionally dominant, desire, taxation and you can insurance policies, are usually below their newest lease. If you’d like economic pointers since you browse your housing pick, Athens-Clarke State brings totally free general casing guidance, credit counseling to have possible homeowners, financial counseling and homebuyer delinquency counseling. Atlanta Are you selecting a separate household in Atlanta? Georgia’s funding town contains the state’s biggest housing market which have more than 900 new house groups. What’s more, it has actually a string out of teams giving homebuyers advice about securing their very first household. The new Atlanta Property Expert works a good Homeownership Advance payment Advice Program, which helps low- to average-money basic-date homebuyers having a great subsidy of up to $20,one hundred thousand. You could apply for as much as $twenty-five,100000 when you’re a first-big date homebuyer employed in personal health, public shelter, studies, or if you are in the fresh new armed forces otherwise an experienced. The mortgage try forgivable immediately following ten years when you continue your house as your number one house to have 10 years, you’re off the connect to have paying so it lump sum down-payment. There are many caveats though: your home must be bought within city borders, it cannot meet or exceed $250,100000 in cost, along with your family need to fulfill specific criteria (are designed home was excluded). You must complete an effective homebuyer’s studies path and you can property foreclosure reduction categories, too. Invest Atlanta, which is an organization seriously interested in improving this new city’s economy, works a few applications to aid homebuyers buy a property. House Atlanta 4.0, such as for example, also provides being qualified homeowners a federal Casing Power (FHA) and Pros Products (VA) home loan that have a great step 3.5% grant to support the down-payment and you can settlement costs. This new grant is actually completely forgiven within closure. The new Atlanta Sensible Homeownership Program (AAHOP) offers qualified homebuyers up to $14,100 inside financing that’s totally forgiven just after 5 years. This new catch? You need to qualify for a thirty-seasons repaired rates home loan through one of Invest Atlanta’s participating lenders, no one should exceed $10,one hundred thousand in the quick assets, and...
Read MoreApproaches for staying in control of the debt
Approaches for staying in control of the debt Does your current home loan make it better ups otherwise grows? You cannot boost the balance regarding a predetermined price loan, but you can incorporate an area financing to help you both your own repaired rates otherwise varying rates loan. Talk to your house loans director for more info. Equity Just how much available guarantee you have got of your property? If you have had your home financing for some time and leftover up with your repayments, it will be easy. You might estimate just how much of your security you could utilize with the help of our collateral calculator. The money you owe Do you really easily spend the money for increased costs? Keep in mind that borrowing from the bank significantly more calls for a lot more money and you may possibly another loan identity. Your bank might bring your finances into consideration including your offers, outgoings or any other financial obligation account in relation to even if accept your loan increase. Fool around with our mortgage calculator to see what a greater loan amount you are going to suggest for your costs. It’s also possible to fool around with our very own payment calculator to check on how your own loan dimensions and you will cost method of impacts your cost amount. Put your timeframe having fees Consider what you’re borrowing the extra money getting as well as how enough time you might keep you to definitely advantage. Will it rise in worth over time or can it depreciate? If you utilize financing improve to fund yet another auto, remember that you may want to take in a loss of profits once you offer, and the attention you pay on the money you lent. On top of that, financing increase getting recovery will add worthy of to your home. Foundation these materials to your decision. Should you get a mortgage finest right up, your bank will generally recalculate your home financing money based on the rest identity of the established mortgage. But if you want to free up security using a part mortgage, you’re able to favor a special mortgage title so you can your current mortgage. Such, you could potentially like a fixed identity mortgage and use brand new put costs as the a plan to pay along the additional number your lent. Pay off as fast as you can Imagine if you may have fifteen years remaining on your own mortgage therefore alter the vehicle from inside the five years? Because circumstances, you might be investing in a car you no longer very own. Ouch! The length of time you’re taking to repay your loan have an effective huge impact on how much cash the borrowed funds will ultimately ask you for. Such as for example, for those who borrow $fifty,100 big hyperlink having yet another vehicles: In this case by using the most readily useful right up reduces the fees matter while the complete desire paid off. But not, in case your home loan still has fifteen years and you capture the whole fifteen years to blow it well then your effect look such as this: The new monthly installment is much faster, although total attention paid off is much more, a great deal more actually as compared to % p.an excellent. * paid off for the unsecured consumer loan. While your own lender just wants one pay the lower count, it can be in your best interest to blow many lower your complete notice bill. Combining your debt Using your ideal upwards or raise...
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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