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Having a handy auto-looking experience, see our very own concierge vehicles-to shop for provider using Autoland Highway Losings Investigation Institute – – Take a look at score getting burns & assets loss for any vehicle, and a summary of the absolute most- and you may minimum-taken models. This type of points connect with insurance premiums plus coverage & reassurance. Determine the sort of auto you desire and they’re going to loans Botsford CT lookup their inflatable community to get the primary complement you. They are going to actually negotiate the cost for you and send it to the front door. If your fee is more than ten months late, it will cost 20% of your own appeal due, not below $5.00. We know that unforeseen issues such infection otherwise loss of employment is also befall someone. Particular indicates we would manage to let are: Adding repayments to your stop of the loan Consolidating costs to the that payment Briefly cutting costs Their 2 newest pay stubs (otherwise W-2s) A letter detailing the sort of monetaray hardship and you will discussing exactly how a great deferment or prevention would assist A completed finances worksheet Should this be a car loan, please is evidence of insurance policies in the way of a duplicate of your declarations page from your own insurance company You can fax such data files in order to (714) 885-7649 Desire: Loan Servicing Company, use the forms towards the local department, or mail these to PO Box 11777, Santa Ana, California 92711. For those who have usage of a good scanner, you can even post the new versions in order to you within given that a connection in order to a safe email address. Please be aware that in case your loan is actually approaching delinquency, you will want to publish the fresh forms via fax to make sure that we are able to do so as soon as possible. MRC exposure, not, is available any time whether or not the vehicles is actually financed plus when it is funded with another bank. The financing Relationship has arrived to help you function with that it difficult monetary time and prevent the latest perception to the borrowing Written request for losing interest rate within the Provider Participants Municipal Save Operate. Provide us with a copy from (1) new military requests otherwise (2) various other compatible signal out of military service, as well as an official page off a dominating officer. (The credit Partnership isn’t needed to discover the mobilization commands as long as we could make sure in the event the active obligation condition initiate making use of the web site: Membership Membership exists so you’re able to anybody who lifestyle or performs in Tangerine, La, Riverside, or San Bernardino Areas. You ily representative financial institutions with us. Ask us getting details. Subscription fee is actually $5. Head to our checking and you will family savings users observe the various accounts you can expect, this will help you decide which membership is best suited for your needs. A checking or family savings will be opened having at least opening put regarding $25. Please click the link to try to get your bank account online. Should you want to unlock a business membership, young people membership (around 18 yrs . old), trust account, otherwise an IRA account, please visit our branches. The minimum was 18 yrs . old to start a fundamental coupons or bank account, 13 years old having a Pacific discounts or checking account, and you will a day old with a social Safety Matter having a beneficial...
Read MoreDrawbacks from Repaying Financial Rapidly
Drawbacks from Repaying Financial Rapidly While you are bringing an HDB loan for your apartment, the speed has been dos.6% for as long as I am able to contemplate. Its pegged so you can CPF dos.5% rate of interest. The stability of the HDB financing speed may seem good, however it is already more more than personal loans. You to lender I understand offers five years from the 1.4% repaired price. This will be somewhat unlike loans Murray CT many other nations, in which interest levels will likely be a lot higher. As a result, there can be better importance in the racing to pay off the fresh financial, because of the high rate. Even though it is always advisable that you minimise interest money, all of our relatively down rates adds a new measurement compared to that. It may, for-instance, getting beneficial to care for a healthy and balanced income, or features bucks to invest elsewhere along with the assets, in place of offering full concern so you can mortgage fees. Have there been prepayment charges? What exactly are your deals? Do you have an exclusive property or an HDB apartment? Does hurrying the house mortgage repayment optimise the wide range buildup? Are there Prepayment Charges? Getting HDB loans, there are never any prepayment punishment, to help you go ahead and prepay doing your particularly. Having personal bank loans, observe there are prepayment punishment to own a specific time frame, like in the first 3 to 5 age. If you attempt to make very early payments inside day, you will find a punishment implemented (the bank is trying to obtain back the eye they’d need). This punishment is often around 1.5 per cent of one’s matter you might be trying prepay, and it is rarely worth the prices; it is wise to hold off right until you can prepay instead punishment. Specific lenders accommodate partial prepayment, instance up to a $200,100000 or any other share, without having any penalty. You should check brand new terms and conditions of one’s mortgage whenever joining they. What exactly are Your current Coupons? If investing your property financing early manage make you with little or no coupons, then it’s a bad idea commit in the future on it. Considercarefully what create happen for many who come across a world economic crisis, including employment loss or a medical crisis. For those who have no money because the you have been speeding up the loan money, so what can you are doing in such a situation? For people who turn to using other financing, particularly signature loans, then you’ve generated an adverse trade-out of. Your residence mortgage interest is actually below two per cent, or dos.6 % when it comes to HDB money. A consumer loan is usually to half dozen to nine per cent notice. You would have been better off remaining way more deals, and make payment on down interest of your house mortgage. For people who own a residential property, because of the opting for an extended financing tenure, having a smaller sized monthly payment, you can enjoy an optimistic income every month. Though you are repaying interest, really, your own renter was enabling you to spend. As well as, even if you find yourself repaying your house in full, its unsafe to choose very long periods without deals. Eg, imagine if you rush fees, and you may pay-off your flat at the chronilogical age of forty five, and now have little savings. What happens when you’re suddenly retrenched a while later? Having a fully reduced-up flat, this kind of a...
Read MoreCan i incorporate renovation can cost you on my financial?
Can i incorporate renovation can cost you on my financial? It’s a fact: home cost a lot, be it the newest otherwise 100 years household. It is also correct that has just refurbished house bring in a paid rate. And Canadians will be ready to upgrade. A recently available statement discovered forty-two% off Canadians loan places Mulford has sometimes currently finished family renovations before season, otherwise they truly are gonna upgrade soon. Even though many anyone look to get fixer-uppers, the fresh highest price of recovery systems, supplies, and labour setting they want to range from the price of home improvements on home loan. And frequently people you would like a hands to help purchase renos to save a property habitable otherwise allow much warmer. Understand how to create repair can cost you so you can a mortgage in the Canada and possess methods to several of the most common renovation financial resource inquiries. What is a remodelling home loan? The term “recovery home loan” refers to that loan secured up against a house with the aim of reount, rates, size, or other regards to the loan believe the kind of repair home mortgage you have made. If you find yourself wondering ‘do i need to get a mortgage with extra cash getting home improvements whenever to shop for property?’ otherwise ‘ought i fool around with home financing to own home improvements your newest family?’ new brief answer is maybe. Generally – per state is a bit some other. Your property guarantee, market price of the property, their financial predicament, many of these factors need to be considered that have financial restoration funding. Your first step involves determining what you would like or should manage. Next, you’ll want to get a quote on how far they will cost you. This can help you narrow down their renovation home loan financial support choices and determine just how a remodelling mortgage loan could work on your own condition. Advantages of a house reno financial A mortgage is not necessarily the only way to finance house fixes or renovations. Almost every other choice capital alternatives for family home improvements become: Using your deals to help you improve your family as opposed to entering debt Using credit cards An unsecured personal line of credit A secured personal line of credit (domestic guarantee credit line or HELOC) A consumer loan Financing away from a relative Some of these family repair money choices are appealing since they’re smoother and short to prepare and you will accessibility. Yet not, if you are intending a more comprehensive renovation endeavor, a property repair mortgage could possibly offer the next professionals: All the way down rates All the way down monthly obligations since financing becomes amortized more than a lengthier months Use of a higher matter according to your residence equity Advisable having individuals whom might become lured to punishment the flexibility out of almost every other household renovation selection in the above list – particularly lines of credit or credit cards Often lenders refinance a house to access collateral needed seriously to complete slight renovations. Thus, when your latest financial balance is below 80% of current ily earnings helps a more impressive financial number, it is possible to qualify in order to re-finance their home loan with additional finance. While to order property that needs work, imagine a purchase along with update financial. This permits one to finish the performs called for into the domestic with your money. Up coming since the renovations is actually complete, the financial institution releases finance for your requirements as well as your...
Read MoreJust how the borrowing from the bank influences your mortgage recognition
Just how the borrowing from the bank influences your mortgage recognition Just what in case the credit history become to buy a home? This is what you will need to know about your own borrowing from the bank before you sign new dotted line on the next home. When you are even as a result of the possibility of to order a property within the the near future, your mind could be currently buzzing that have questions regarding the latest homebuying techniques, borrowing from the bank to invest in a home, and ways to purchase the costs you to arrive just after the spot was yours. Exactly what if the credit rating getting buying a house? What’s the best way to pay for furniture for the the newest household? Good credit is key to to find property. That’s because loan providers visit your credit history because an indication of how well your handle financial obligations. You to around three-hand amount provides them with a concept of exactly how high-risk it’s so you’re able to lend to you personally – after all, they would like to make sure to pay-off that which you obtain, specifically for a huge purchase such as for instance a house. Your get could be the difference in getting an acceptance for a mortgage and obtaining rejected. Their borrowing from the bank including impacts your own financial acceptance one other way: it might be regularly let influence the rate and you will terminology of financial. When you yourself have a top credit rating, you might get a lesser rate of interest or more flexible commission conditions. For the Canada, credit ratings vary from three hundred so you’re able to 900. When your credit rating actually anywhere close to 900, need cardiovascular system. You don’t need to features prime credit to get home financing. Indeed, provided your credit rating is within the 600-700 range, it has to satisfy the borrowing requirements for your mortgage application with among Canada’s fundamental financial institutions. If the get is lower than one, you might talk to home financing elite group about qualifying for home financing owing to another type of lender. Remember that the rating is one element of their financial app, in addition to financial will comment your family income and you can people obligations you have to confirm that you can afford to make your home loan repayments. Maintaining a good credit score throughout the homebuying procedure Look at your borrowing from the bank eventually. Like that, if you learn people borrowing from the bank points on the statement, you’ll have time to take care of them and enhance your credit score just before a lending company product reviews your borrowing from the bank. Trying to get a home loan preapproval, seeking a house, getting the last mortgage approval, following pulling from the final family closure will take between six-weeks and you will three months, but prepare for they for taking lengthened. During this time period, it is essential to care for a good credit score so nothing sets a beneficial wrench into your finally home loan approval. To get rid of any borrowing from the bank problems that could result in reduced favorable home loan conditions, prevent a final recognition, or ruin their borrowing from the bank, ensure that you what you should do. Avoid doing several mortgage programs with assorted loan providers for the a preliminary period of time. This may banner you due to the fact a cards seeker minimizing your credit score. Waiting toward obtaining most other borrowing from the bank, such as for example...
Read MoreStore Cards Deal with-Off: Home Depot Consumer credit Card vs. Lowe’s Virtue Cards
Store Cards Deal with-Off: Home Depot Consumer credit Card vs. Lowe’s Virtue Cards Both cards provide helpful advantages having holiday shopping, but that is finest season-round? If you wish to posts an extremely huge stocking which have an effective biggest appliance, the fresh new offers that Home Depot and you may Lowe’s bring so you can the borrowing from the bank card proprietors will likely be an enjoyable gift on your own. Through Jan. 29, Domestic Depot provides new proprietors of its Consumer credit Cards $twenty-five regarding a primary on the web or even in-store acquisition of between $twenty-five and $999, or $100 of a first acquisition of $step one,one hundred thousand or maybe more. On the Lowe’s Virtue Cards, because of Feb. 1 you get $31 away from to suit your basic get (in-store just) away from $50 so you’re able to $, otherwise $a hundred from for commands charging $600 or higher. Conditions from all of these offers were tool names including Bosch (for its Standard collection), Fisher & Paykel, Liebherr, and Weber. But beyond the promotions for brand new cardholders, hence mastercard will provide you with an educated experts season-round? We combed from terms and conditions evaluate those two borrowing from the bank notes in more detail, determining interest levels, annual costs, typical pick discounts, and so you’re able to dictate the greater credit for your requirements. Vitals Home Depot and you will Lowe’s handmade cards possess some trick similarities. Both enable it to be most of the cardholders to help you put off attention having 6 months with the invoices totaling $299 or more. (One another require the absolute minimum monthly payment during those people half a year: $28 or one percent of your own buy, any sort of is actually large.) Instructions totaling below $299 incur focus if not pay their costs completely. Each other notes also provide other benefits and you can short-term capital advertising while in the the entire year. Including, Home Depot is now providing 10 percent off the buy off hung fencing as a result of . Lowe’s is actually stretching its half dozen-few days unique capital so you can 12 months getting products charging $299 or even more which might be bought courtesy . A beneficial Lowe’s spokesperson told you the merchant sporadically also offers 10 percent out-of months for cardholders. Neither cards makes you earn mileage or factors having commands, regardless of if. Another thing those two notes have as a common factor: They are simpler to qualify for than lender-approved playing cards, claims Bruce McClary, representative to your nonprofit Federal Base to own Credit Counseling (NFCC), based in Washington, D.C. Like with most other store notes, “acceptance recommendations are occasionally alot more versatile,” he states. Element by the Feature Interest Lowe’s annual percentage rate (APR) is actually per cent for everyone the fresh cardholders, irrespective of credit rating. Family Depot’s selections out of to help you per cent, depending on your creditworthiness. These aren’t such as for example higher pricing, because average apr for brand new bank card also provides is now doing 17 per cent, according CreditCards, an internet site one to tunes rates weekly. We provide Domestic Depot a slight line because it is you can easily your may get a lower life expectancy Annual percentage rate using its credit. Unauthorized Charges Neither credit holds you responsible for expenses not authorized costs. That’s a lot better than what exactly is necessary for federal legislation, hence states cardholders is liable for around $fifty regarding an enthusiastic not authorized charges. Once again, it’s a wash among them...
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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