Very important checklist before applying having a mortgage
Very important checklist before applying having a mortgage Crucial listing before you apply to possess a mortgage Home ownership not only sets a ceiling more than your mind and in addition creates a secured asset and a sense of shelter. You might build your home depending on the choice & criteria, so it is a safe sanctuary for you personally. Due to home loans, today home ownership has become simpler and much easier. Lenders are used to money the purchase regarding a property, should it be willing to move in or lower than framework. The new fees tenure was long, additionally the rates of interest are also lowest, so that the loan repayment gets effortless. Therefore, if you’re thinking regarding home ownership, enable it to be a real possibility with Bandhan Bank financial. But not, before applying for the loan, here’s good 7-point record to look at- Education Middle Home loans keeps given qualification criteria one borrowers have to complete in order to be qualified to receive the loan. Thus, before applying, see the eligibility conditions of one’s applicant. The latest requirements become standards regarding your years, occupation, month-to-month money, present bills, and you may credit score. Their borrowing bureau get is a vital parameter one to establishes loan approve matter. So you’re able to sanction the loan, lenders usually need a good credit score out-of 700 or above. Find out if your credit rating is in the needed maximum; you can aquire your house loan sanctioned. Even in the event lenders make you finance for your home, they don’t really render 100% financing. This new LTV (Mortgage so you can Really worth) proportion establishes the mortgage that may be availed according to research by the cost of the house. In the event your proportion is 70%, this means the financial institution will give financing getting 70% of the property’s pricing when you have to pay 30% of your own costs on your own. Very, read the LTV proportion to determine the new advance payment needed on the mortgage. Lenders have different kinds of charge regarding the her or payday loans without bank account in Coaling him, the new running payment getting one of them. See the operating payment or any other costs of one’s loan. Get a hold of financing with a low charges construction therefore it is costs-energetic. Home loans you will charge focus towards the a fixed otherwise a floating basis. Less than fixed-rates mortgage brokers, the interest rate doesn’t change during the mortgage period. Simultaneously, the interest rate cannot will still be fixed below drifting rate home funds. They transform for the payment period should your bank changes the fresh cost on the mortgage brokers. When you’re pregnant mortgage interest rates to fall in the coming, decide for drifting-speed loans. Alternatively, if you think one to interest rates might rise, you could buy the fixed-rate financing and you may protect lowest-rates of interest. Loan providers offer mortgage EMI calculators that help your see the EMI payable immediately following going into the amount borrowed, interest rate, and you will cost period. From the examining the new EMI, you could decide if the financial would be reasonable or not. Should your determined EMI try high, you could potentially reduce the amount borrowed and you may/otherwise increase the payment period to reduce they. At exactly the same time, whenever you afford a leading EMI compared to the determined count, you could potentially enhance the loan amount and you will/otherwise slow down the period. Therefore, the home mortgage EMI calculator helps you discover the most affordable EMI toward mortgage....
Read MoreJust after finishing the application, you get that loan estimate and lots of most other data files to examine
Just after finishing the application, you get that loan estimate and lots of most other data files to examine Here is what to expect Providing home financing need not be overwhelming. At Accept, we are here to really make the processes because fret-100 % free you could. Purchasing a different sort of home can be an exciting big date, therefore should make sure you love all the next. Whether you already discover your ideal home, was earnestly hunting, or you will be https://paydayloanalabama.com/clanton/ just starting to search, you really possess some questions relating to ways to get the financing need. Sort through the methods less than or contact us and you can help a hug mortgage specialist take you step-by-step through everything required knowing. Pre-Degree. The first step when you’re unsure for people who qualify otherwise wanting to know exactly how much you can afford is to find pre-accredited. Having a pre-certification, you have an idea of simply how much you would be in a position to dedicate to your brand new home, also it can help you decide when it is just the right date are domestic-hunting. Embrace ‘s the first-mortgage bank provide pre-qualification completely through text, so if you need pre-certified within a few minutes straight from your own phone, text PREQUALME so you’re able to 22722. There is absolutely no obligations or pricing to you, and no impression with the credit score. Pre-Approval. When you are confident you might be considered, otherwise must kick anything out of even more surely, you could forget about pre-degree and you will plunge to an effective pre-recognition. While they are both equivalent in ways as well as the terms get used interchangeably because of the some loan providers, a good pre-approval means the lending company have a tendency to check your credit to confirm financial facts about your earnings, property, and you may bills. A pre-approval page will help your own provide stay ahead of other people, because shows the seller and their realtor one to you will be a serious buyer who will be in a position to follow through on your promote. Software & Loan Estimate. Once you have settled on your own dream domestic, you can feel free to move on having an official mortgage application. Their Accept mortgage expert will help you submit all of the necessary information about yourself plus financial history, and ask questions about your own prospective mortgage, instance when the you’ll have a good co-borrower. At the Accept, we bust your tail when planning on taking all frustration out of the app and can make sure you may be putting your self from the ideal standing you’ll be able to at each phase. There is actually install a simple on the web software to walk your thanks to the whole procedure at your very own rate! The mortgage guess, or Ce, will give you all the details and you can costs associated with the latest loan you’re thinking about, such as the rate of interest, payment, estimates of taxation and you can insurance policies, while the closing costs of the loan. The shape spends obvious language perhaps not court jargon to know most of the absolutely nothing detail of one’s home loan you’ve taken out, as well as lenders are expected by-law to utilize the same standardized setting. Processing. If you choose to progress once you’ve the loan estimate at your fingertips, the next step is to do business with their financial pro during the processing to examine advice and plan out every expected data files on the a loan file. At...
Read MoreOn this page, we’ll protection the most used payday loans software having apple’s ios and you will Android os
On this page, we’ll protection the most used payday loans software having apple’s ios and you will Android os Chime. Copyright 2018 file. Chime Bottom line FloatMe helps improve your money from the letting you save money, avoid overdrafts, and you can shelter additional will set you back having cash advances. Finest payday membership: MoneyLion Software Ideal for gig gurus: Cleo App Perfect for protecting on the overdraft costs: Brigit Payday loan Application Best for quick improves to the income: B9 Software Perfect for gurus having each hour earnings: Earnin Pay day loan App Best for salary improves: PayActiv Financing App Best choice to own a small amount: Dave Pay day loan Application step one. Might build 120 monthly obligations away from $fifteen (and additionally a-one-big date $15 administrative fee), and that totals $step 1,815. The newest terms of service when you look at the each county place are also some other. Nevertheless the business do review your bank account possibilities and linked examining levels Brigit 2. The latest Apr may differ for every single condition and will be one hundred% so you’re able to $200 so you’re able to as much as step one,000%. Therefore considering each one of these analytics how can you reasonable on growing possibility being financially effective? Moreover, really does Chimes Credit Builder Card in fact work? In reality Dave gave me $75 and you may Albert juat ga elizabeth me personally $25lol. It offers financing services so you’re able to their users compliment of cellular programs and you will already, there are many more than simply 5 mil programs particularly dave pages whom has actually oriented a better monetary upcoming. It is possible to make use of new MoneyLion screen. Once you learn you really have less overall to spend, you will be making smarter solutions, since you have to check out the best method to invest that money. There are no programs, desire or late charge, or credit inspections otherwise threats involved in programs eg Empower. Like any habit, the great habits are often the most challenging first off zero glucose on your coffees etc. In case your income try deposited, the new application subtracted the fresh new loaned currency, in addition to the energized desire. We now had $two hundred resting within my checking account and my want to purchase it actually was delivering less and less. Top Travel Playing cards It is mostly of the free applications particularly Moneylion. When you are these types of intentions are perfect, saving is not constantly it is possible to. Every Legal rights Booked. Klover works much like most other payday loans eg software. He frequently produces on the front side hustles, purchasing, and you may standard individual loans subject areas aligned to simply help somebody earn more, pay off financial obligation, and you will visited financial versatility. Dont assist some body reveal in different ways. Consequently when you build your application, the latest application matches that lenders dependent on particular requirements. Connect your finances and you will thats it! Better yet, halting your financial worry as a result of a fund credit cellular software program is an alternate sorts of way of prevent debt anxieties. Provides instant cash away from variety 600 ten,one hundred thousand. Looking for moneylion possibilities? This is actually the A number of Top fifteen Software Instance Moneylion | Moneylion Opposition. Pros & Drawbacks. Earnin said one to its only available to a few Chime users, and you will evidently Im nothing. You need good Chime checking account become eligible, however with zero minimal deposit, without monthly or annual costs,...
Read MoreYou simply can’t getting under water on your home loan
You simply can’t getting under water on your home loan Have the latest informative data on mortgages, domestic collateral, and you may refinancing in the mortgage brokers blogs. First-time homebuyers and you will experienced home owners exactly the same will get beneficial and you may most recent information regarding the fresh wider arena of financial financing. As manager from a cellular house, you’re currently well-aware finance companies you should never well worth your property just like the highly while they create if it have been a classic house. This may be as https://paydayloanalabama.com/broomtown/ to the reasons you are thinking in the domestic guarantee: do i need to score a property collateral financing back at my mobile house? It’s a question. If you’ve kept up with fix on your own cellular house and today you are wishing to cash-out (or you are looking in order to snag property equity product to redesign the twice-wide), you will be examining their additional HELOC and you will domestic collateral mortgage solutions. You’ll want to individual residential property. If your rent a space during the a mobile home playground, you won’t be able to get a property equity equipment — even if you very own your mobile house. Is why: Banking institutions examine mobile property due to the fact individual assets (such a car or truck) in place of property (particularly a home). It means the mobile home will generally depreciate inside the really worth only instance a new auto does once you push it off the lot. not, for people who individual the newest homes where their mobile residence is found, your home appreciates for the really worth throughout the years — definition there must be adequate worth on your own residential property and you will household mutual in order to qualify for a property guarantee product. Extent you owe on the financial can not meet or exceed the value of the property. Simply put, you will need to have some security of your house already. To figure out when you have guarantee of your property, you will want the following pointers: Your own house’s ount you taken care of your residence, it’s the current worth of your home — which is dependent on the real estate business overall. Discover a loose thought of the worth of your house, input the address and look at the newest rates on the Zillow otherwise Trulia . The amount you continue to are obligated to pay on the home loan. Look at the amortization schedule observe exactly how much, together with charge like notice and you will PMI, you will still owe on the financial. Make current worth, subtract everything you nevertheless owe, and that is give you a crude idea of your home security. Such, whether your house is valued in the $60,100000 and also you are obligated to pay $forty,100000, your property guarantee is around $20,100. It doesn’t mean you’ll be able to obtain a full $20,100, but it is a starting point having quoting that which you could well be able to find. You’ll need a long-term basis. Your cellular family will likely must be permanently attached to your land so you’re able to qualify for property guarantee loan system. This really is an element of the concept of a house becoming property as opposed to private assets given that a manufactured household who has got good towing hitch otherwise wheels connected is much more like an automobile than just property. You have greatest luck with a dual-broad. Though you could possibly score property collateral mortgage that have just one-wider trailer, extremely banking...
Read Morecuatro. Have fun with an offset membership or redraw facility
cuatro. Have fun with an offset membership or redraw facility When you’re attempting to pay back your property loan right as you are able to, we understand. Listed below are our very own six suggestions to reduce your financial. For most people, property will be the most significant buy they make, resulting in years of using home financing. Thus, we are not amazed when you need to pay a out of because the soon you could. Performing this saves money in desire and you will alleviates the new financial burden of one’s loans. Whenever you are fantasizing from purchasing your property downright sooner or later as opposed to afterwards, here are half a dozen a way to help you to get around. 1. Make each week otherwise fortnightly payments As much as possible, build your money possibly each week or fortnightly, unlike monthly. For individuals who spend fortnightly, you’ll be to make 26 money within the a-year, which is equivalent to 13 month-to-month repayments. This means you will be purchasing you to month’s worth of additional repayments annually. During the Man’s Choices, we have flexible installment frequencies to your all our mortgage brokers, in order to love to shell out a week, fortnightly otherwise monthly. 2. Generate extra repayments By making most money, sometimes on a regular basis or because the lump sums, you might be paying down your residence financing faster of the shortening your loan identity, and in turn decreasing the quantity of appeal you only pay. Thought placing unforeseen even more money into your residence loan, such as a-work extra, your own taxation reimburse, otherwise a bithday present. Make sure your mortgage makes you build even more costs, and that means you usually do not incur a charge. At the People’s Possibilities, you can enjoy new versatility of making unlimited a lot more payments towards all of our changeable lenders. With these repaired fund, you may make most money as high as $10,000 a beneficial yearpare him or her having fun with all of our comparison device. step 3. Generate high repayments Unlike simply and come up with the minimal costs, boost the typical number you’re paying. Even a small raise tends to make a difference and help your repay your property financing faster. In the event the rates of interest shed and your minimum cost minimizes, keep your regular fees at that high amount if you can. Contemplate, which matters since the purchasing extra on the mortgage, so guarantee that you’re able to do which instead of running into people costs plus don’t talk about people capped constraints. What is an offset membership? An offset account are a different bank account such as for example an effective exchange membership, that one may relationship to your home mortgage. The bucks you’ve got inside savings account offsets extent interesting you’re billed in your home loan. Such as, if you have $20,100 on your counterbalance account and your mortgage are $eight hundred,000, you are able to simply be charged appeal with the $380,000. From the People’s Solutions, you will find a counterbalance membership option towards all of our Practical Adjustable Domestic Mortgage and you can all of our Variable Mortgage Bundle. What’s a good redraw facility? A good redraw studio is a component linked to home financing that can including help to lower the amount of focus you pay. It allows your the means to access extra repayments you’ve made on your own loan, that’s useful if you wish to withdraw several of the extra currency you’ve paid down. At the Mans Alternatives, a redraw business is present...
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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