How to attract your credit rating
How to attract your credit rating This new borrowing hobby usually has a primary-term negative influence on your credit rating. In the event that you sign up for the brand new credit or take into most obligations, credit-rating solutions dictate your greater risk to be ready to expend your debts. Credit ratings normally dip a little while whenever that occurs, however, rebound contained in this a couple months as long as you remain up with the bills. New-borrowing from the bank activity normally lead up to ten% of your total credit score. Numerous borrowing from the bank account promotes borrowing-get improvements. The fresh new FICO credit reporting program is likely to favor people who have multiple credit account, and both rotating credit (membership such as credit cards that allow you to borrow secured on a having to pay limitation and make money off different number monthly) and fees money (age.g., car loans, mortgages and you will figuratively speaking, with place monthly payments and you will fixed repay attacks). Borrowing merge accounts for regarding the 10% of one’s credit rating. 39% People who have a beneficial 720 FICO Score possess credit profiles that come with car loan and 29% features a mortgage. Public record information eg bankruptcies dont are available in every credit statement, so these entries can’t be versus other score has an effect on inside percentage conditions. If a person or higher try listed on your credit report, it can outweigh all other situations and you may really lower your credit rating. Such as, a bankruptcy proceeding can remain on your credit score for ten years, that can close payday loan Vilas you from entry to a number of credit to have far or all that big date. For this reason factor, it’s a good idea to “rest” half a year approximately between programs for brand new borrowing from the bank-also to avoid opening this new profile on days before you plan to submit an application for a primary loan instance a mortgage or a car loan Your FICO Score are solid, and you’ve got fairly an effective odds of qualifying having a broad style of fund. But when you can also be alter your credit score and eventually come to ab muscles A beneficial (740-799) otherwise Outstanding (800-850) credit-get ranges, you can also feel eligible for finest interest rates that may conserve you thousands of dollars inside the desire along side life of your own funds. Listed below are couple actions you can take to begin with improving your credit scores. Continuously record your FICO Get provide a reinforcement for the get-building services. Establishing steady upward progress (taking that occasional dips try par towards course) excellent bonus to steadfastly keep up suit borrowing from the bank designs. And you can keeping track of will alert you to your sudden borrowing-get drops , that is certainly a sign of not authorized craft in your credit account. Consider credit score monitoring Stop high borrowing utilization prices. Higher borrowing from the bank application , or debt use. Brand new FICO scoring program basics regarding 30% of the credit history about this dimension-the brand new percentage of the available borrowing limit represented by your a great commission balances. Keep your utilization round the your entire levels below from the 30% to avoid cutting your score. Just be sure to expose a strong credit merge. The new FICO credit-scoring design will choose users which have multiple borrowing account, and you will a blend of different types of credit, along with fees fund for example mortgage loans otherwise auto loans and you can...
Read MoreReasons why you should Bring a bad credit Company Financing
Reasons why you should Bring a bad credit Company Financing It’s strongly advised you consult an accountant to put together an equilibrium-piece to trace their repeated monthly expenses and you will venture incidental expenses because the accurately as you are able to. If you don’t have an accountant then having fun with an accounting software like Quickbooks is quite beneficial. This new Quickbooks app has also payment applications to help you assemble payments off people quickly. Doing yet another organization having fun with a less than perfect credit business loan carries a really high amount of chance and should be avoided to possess many and varied reasons. The main reason is the suspicion from company achievement. Just remember that , of many enterprises you should never allow it to be early in the day a great year or two. Okay, if you’re not completely frightened-out-of from the all of threats along with chose to force ahead obtaining that loan which have smaller-than-prime credit let us mention particular explanations you should consider large-cost capital. Even the important reasoning to invest in your company is one to you prefer capital to remain in company. Yet not, you can find solid justifications getting getting more working-capital also if it comes with large will cost you. Guaranteeing Your own Have-Chain Even while the worldwide disturbance from Covid-19 is actually receding, around the globe also provide chains will stay backlogged for a long time. A visit to a home improve store will highlight how widespread this dilemma can be as you will come across an unmatched number away from blank shelves. The shortage away from content international affects almost every globe and of numerous benefits anticipate who supply chain shortages . If you can’t get material your offer otherwise use in development, you would not past enough time. Check out the All of us comfort distilling world; a global diminished cup container provides sent will set you back skyrocketing and you may, sometimes, distillers have seen to end creation because of waits and you will unavailability out-of bottle. Who may have led to of a lot distillers stockpiling days off empty package to own upcoming play with. For other individuals with no tips to shop for in bulk, this has resulted in the fresh new failure of distillery. This is exactly a textbook situation where a plant features constant or growing request who does justify financing at the large cost. No matter if you to contributes to a high price of merchandise sold, its comparable to an agenda where in actuality the price of financing can be seen since an insurance coverage advanced. Justifying Company Extension Almost every i was reading this other instances when it may be advisable to capture an adverse credit providers loan is regarded as industries which might be sense hyper-rising prices. The building industry, trucking and you may hospitality are great examples. Markets that provide business owners higher/growing income actually choose to invest in from the large rates more reasonable. Such, if an effective $10,000 funding usually produce an excellent $45,100000 go back, what would you end up being willing to purchase one to $ten,one hundred thousand? Quite simply, when you yourself have a homes endeavor that really needs a piece of devices one will cost you $10,000 to finish a job which can turn a beneficial $45,one hundred thousand money, are you willing to fund it for people who did not have the money to pay for it downright? The answer would probably become sure most of the time. Practical question one stays is where far would be...
Read MoreWhat does high rates of interest suggest into housing market?
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What does high rates of interest suggest into housing market? Insider’s advantages get the finest products in order to make advised behavior (select less than). In some cases, i discovered commissions from your people, but not, our viewpoints was our personal. Terms and conditions affect new also offers noted on this page. Rates features increased more than around three percentage situations up to now it season. With the Thursday, Freddie Mac computer revealed that average 30-season repaired price hit 6.92%, the greatest peak once the 2002. I continue steadily to get a hold of a story of several economic climates regarding the data: solid job and you can wage progress staying individual balance sheets positive, if you are lingering rising prices, credit crunch anxieties and you will housing value are driving homes request A sharp Khater told you when you look at the a pr release. The next couple of months will undoubtedly be very important to the newest cost savings and the housing market. Financial costs try trending highest because Federal Set-aside states they could keep enhancing the federal fund speed up to inflation falls. Costs has actually remained highest yet. The new Given does keep raising pricing during the an aggressive speed up until rising prices suggests signs and symptoms of a continual lag. So much more rates hikes imply home loan costs will probably remain high into foreseeable future. Home loan calculator pay 25% A high down payment will save you $8, Interest expense lower rates 1% will save you $51, pay most $five hundred The borrowed funds identity will be less per month 146 moon Have a tendency to Home loan Rates Increase? Financial costs have recovered of historic lows regarding the last half of 2021 and possess grown dramatically so far during the 2022. In the past one year, an individual speed directory flower 8.2%. The new Provided have battled to handle rising prices and you will intends to boost the target government financing rates double this current year immediately following raising the federal financing target rates during the the early in the day five meetings. Yet not yourself connected with the newest federal funds speed, home loan rates are now and again pushed large because of the Federal Set-aside elevating interest levels and you may investors’ expectations about how exactly people expands have a tendency to connect with the fresh new benefit. Whenever mortgage rates go up, homeowners have less to invest in strength given that a lot more of their questioned property budget should go towards the paying interest. In the event that rates of interest are high enough, buyers could well be squeezed from the markets entirely, cooling consult and you will getting downwards stress on the home speed progress. What is an effective financial price? It may be difficult to know if a lender provides your a primary speed, which is why it’s very crucial that you score pre-acceptance of several lenders and you will evaluate for every bring. Apply for pre-acceptance that have no less than a couple of loan providers. The pricing aren’t the only question that matters. Be sure to contrast your monthly costs as well as your initial will cost you, and additionally any lender charge. Even in the event mortgage rates try greatly dependent on monetary activities outside the control, there are several actions you can take to be sure you get a better price: Consider repaired rates rather than changeable rates. You can get loans in Putnam a reduced introductory rate having a changeable-speed mortgage, and is higher if you intend to move before...
Read MoreThe basics of capital options for earliest-go out homebuyers
The basics of capital options for earliest-go out homebuyers Fortunately, there are various mortgage products and off-payment guidelines applications designed to let users get to the imagine homeownership. One a source for down-commission direction programs in your area ‘s the webpages Advance payment Capital. I questioned Darrin Q. English, elder people invention loan officer in the Quontic Bank in Ny Town, for monetary suggestions for earliest-date people. English answered to your issues from inside the a message. The fresh new answers was edited to have length and understanding. A: Finding your way through very first domestic get shall be overwhelming. It is vital to educate yourself on the domestic-to invest in techniques. Understanding first monetary language could be type in to make a query which have a loan provider. Analyze the risk activities such as your credit rating plus obligations that influence the rate and you will financing terms and conditions. Also: ? Get a hold of a community Company of Houses and you can Urban Innovation-sponsored maybe not-for-profit institution. Good HUD-authoritative homeownership counselor would be always the local applications and you can recommendations. A: Generally speaking, a debtor requires a minimum of step three % into the off commission. Settlement costs are different from the county and you will range from 3 to 5 per cent of one’s price. Of several financing programs require also individuals getting at the least one or two weeks off principal, attract, taxation and you will insurance coverage (PITI) from inside the supplies. Such funds can be found out-of a variety of coupons, old-age financing and you will presents regarding nearest and dearest. It’s important to keep in mind that many loan software require your step 3 per cent deposit feel derived from an excellent borrower’s very own offers. A: FHA fund on Federal Construction Management could be the federal government’s largest first-date home visitors system. 5 percent advance payment and permit consumers to help you be considered which have an effective all the way down credit score and increased financial obligation-to-earnings proportion, hence measures up your minimal month-to-month personal debt repayments into terrible monthly income. Consumers can acquire provide funds from family relations. Va funds, which happen to be designed for whoever has supported our nation for the new army, are a good selection for those who are eligible as the consumers can be fund 100 percent of cost as opposed to requiring financial insurance rates. Freddie Mac’s Household You’ll be able to loan system and you can Fannie Mae’s HomeReady financing program support an advance payment as low as 3 per cent and you may shorter private home loan insurance (PMI). In addition to the well-known loan programs for very first-date customers, of a lot lenders has actually their unique unique applications that will be designed for first-day people. Most are limited by first-time buyers and many is offered to every borrowers but are especially useful to first-go out buyers. look around this site ? Lender away from The united states: Bank out-of America’s Community Homeownership Relationship, available in of numerous U.S. areas, is sold with down-percentage and closure-prices gives, low-down-payment loans and you can academic resources to simply help customers prepare for homeownership. Financial out of America’s Real estate Center house looking product support people to identify belongings in which offer applications may qualify. Consumers need to qualify predicated on earnings and you will household speed constraints. Although not, financial insurance policy is required for living of your own mortgage ? Chase House Lending: The new Pursue DreaMaker Mortgage System was created to let earliest-day homebuyers and individuals that have...
Read MoreCompetitive distinctive line of the mortgage insufficiency by lending company otherwise a following purchaser of the loans is quite probably
Competitive distinctive line of the mortgage insufficiency by lending company otherwise a following purchaser of the loans is quite probably Chapter 7 to ascertain a fresh initiate and ensure zero judge otherwise personal debt immediately after a foreclosures selling. Chapter 7 try a whole personal debt removing program. Of the processing, you will get peace of mind that you are capable generate a flush break from the mortgage company if a foreclosure gets unavoidable. Within an excellent 4 -5 few days schedule you’d be free from un-secured debts particularly as: Playing cards Scientific bills Unsecured loans Legal actions, judgments together with most of the home loan relevant financial obligation. Post-Foreclosures Financing Deficit Financial obligation Am i going to Owe Currency? Having mortgage companies start to promote its post-property foreclosure mortgage deficiencies so you can debt collectors or go after stuff because of regional law firms (we.age. Trott Recuperation Attributes was a part out-of Trott & Trott the most significant local organization hired by financial businesses to-do the new foreclosures processes), home owners can no longer manage to assume that once the house forecloses they are in a position to leave in place of monetary impact. Of a lot consumers are lulled into the a false feeling of security you to the fresh deficit are not pursued because often takes decades on financial for taking competitive step. That it misperception is actually perpetuated by the reports regarding results-totally free stroll aways. Exacerbating this new misinformation ‘s the behavior of the mortgage brokers from showing financial associated bills since an effective charge off on a great borrower’s credit history. Consumers will incorrectly believe this means your debt will not or can not be gathered. Billed of financial obligation remains practical, collectible obligations which will be only a bookkeeping routine getting creditors. The mortgage industry is easily adjusting their practices to make certain limitation data recovery to have loan inadequacies. The key to maximizing insufficiency judgments will be based upon the fresh new property foreclosure deals bidding process.Historically, mortgage brokers perform head the regional lawyer to execute an excellent full financial obligation quote on their behalf at the foreclosures profit. Carrying out the fresh new complete financial obligation bid create make certain term towards the assets would revert to your lender within conclusion of the legal redemption period. not, particularly a bid manage get rid of the likelihood of a lack responsibility given that financial obligation was came across within sale, albeit from the lender. The fresh new complete loans quote enjoys largely fallen out from like with lenders while the property viewpoints possess plummeted. Rather, lenders was getting good brokers price thoughts (BPO, dollars value guess of the property computed of the watching the exterior from a home and looking at various comparable sales) and you can accepting offers as little as 80% of your own BPO. The explanation of one’s financial is because they commonly invest 20% of worthy of securing, maintaining, and you may sale the house or property on the market. As such, acknowledging a quote regarding 80% of one’s BPO worth places him or her in the same status given that getting the assets to own one hundred% of your own worth otherwise make payment on quantity of a full personal debt and later promoting it. The most important outcome of it property foreclosure putting in a bid/rates routine would be the fact, compared to an effective full financial obligation bid here repeatedly will stay a substantial loan deficit. Brand new insufficiency amount try represented by the full balance from the the new borrower without the acknowledged...
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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