8. Youll almost certainly shell out alot more when you look at the notice over time which have an IBR package
8. Youll almost certainly shell out alot more when you look at the notice over time which have an IBR package Given that IBR arrangements work at reducing your monthly premiums, they stretch the repayment term. Instead of the simple ten years, you might be paying down their student loans to own 20 so you can twenty five years. That it fundamentally increases your own time in debt, and therefore isn’t perfect for anyone. The smaller your monthly installments, the fresh new expanded you will end up in financial trouble. The implications away from more time in debt are very important to look at. It might indicate that possible be repaying the beginner loans in case your babies see college. It may affect what you can do buying a home otherwise car. You have to be ready to accept those people effects. Just like the you’re going to be for the cost to have a supplementary 10 to 15 years, even more student loan attract commonly invariably create over that time. Possible save money across the longevity of the borrowed funds with this particular additional interest than simply you’ll features spent that have a basic Repayment Package. 9. The bill out of an IBR student loan you’ll build. With that improved notice and offered fees identity, you’ll be able that your particular loan’s kept equilibrium you’ll grow rather than compress. Highest education loan stability can result in large month-to-month focus charges. When you yourself have a keen IBR package, the monthly premiums will most likely not protection one to accrued appeal, which is called negative amortization. Using this type of income-inspired bundle, the us government pays all otherwise a number of the notice that actually protected by your own monthly payment. This will only last for up to around three straight years off when you began paying off your own education loan beneath the IBR package. Just after those three-years try up, otherwise keep being qualified having IBR or you get off the brand new package, any delinquent attract could well be put in your balance and you can capitalized, ultimately building a whole lot more education loan personal debt. 10. You have to be eligible for an enthusiastic IBR plan. In order to be eligible for a keen IBR bundle, you need to be in a position to have shown partial financial hardship. The potential IBR month-to-month education loan repayments never equal otherwise surpass your payments under the ten-year Practical Payment Package. Remember that the wife or husband’s income you certainly will disqualify you to possess a keen IBR plan. Their monthly payment depends on your own mutual money and you may loan personal debt. Lead Sponsored and you will Unsubsidized Money Lead Scholar As well as Money FFEL Consolidation Financing Head Integration Money Anyone who has taken out Father or mother And finance or any other variety of federal mortgage made to mothers try not to be eligible for IBR. If the Mother or father Together with fund is actually consolidated, they could be considered having an ICR package. 11. Discover records you need to over to receive and maintain a keen IBR plan. To apply for a keen IBR package, you are going to need to submit an IBR consult function on line or you can complete a newsprint form from the loan servicer. IBR preparations additionally require their monthly payment as recalculated most of the seasons. Therefore every one year, you will need to take the time to recertify your income to help you keep the IBR bundle. This may replace your payment considering your...
Read MoreAllow your Domestic Care for You with a reverse Mortgage/ House Guarantee Sales Mortgage
Allow your Domestic Care for You with a reverse Mortgage/ House Guarantee Sales Mortgage A contrary home loan are a non-recourse mortgage, meaning that the newest debtor (or perhaps the borrower’s home) from an opposing mortgage cannot owe over tomorrow loan equilibrium or even the property value the house, any sort of was shorter. Whether your debtor otherwise agencies regarding their property like to offer the home to repay the opposite home loan, no possessions aside from the house will be used to pay off the debt. Should your borrower otherwise their property wants to retain the house, the bill of your financing have to be paid in complete. Opposite mortgage loans are produced especially for elder property owners, letting them make the most of the fresh guarantee he’s obtained in their land. Having an opposing home loan, your borrow secured on the new guarantee you may have established in your home and do not have to pay back the mortgage for as long as you reside in the house as your primary residence, keep home in the good shape, and you will spend possessions taxation and insurance. You could inhabit your home and take pleasure in making zero monthly principal and you can interest home loan repayments. According to the money you owe, a face-to-face home loan has got the possibility to make you stay in the your home but still satisfy debt personal debt. We understand you to definitely reverse mortgages is almost certainly not suitable for anyone, call us so we may help walk you through the method and you can address any queries you really have. Reverse Mortgages vs. Antique Financial or Household Security Finance An opposite home loan ‘s the contrary regarding a timeless financial. With a traditional mortgage, your borrow cash making monthly prominent https://availableloan.net/installment-loans-nc/cleveland/ and you will desire mortgage repayments. Which have a reverse home loan, but not, obtain loan proceeds in accordance with the value of your residence, the age of the latest youngest borrower, plus the rate of interest of mortgage. That you don’t generate monthly dominating and you will focus mortgage payments for providing you are now living in, keep household when you look at the great condition, and you can pay assets fees and you can insurance coverage. The mortgage have to be paid down once you perish, promote your residence, if any expanded are now living in the home as your first household. If you find yourself age 62 otherwise earlier, a home Equity Transformation Financial (HECM) for purchase of Lender off England Financial tends to be an intelligent option for resource another spot to label household. Home Guarantee Transformation Home loan (HECM) A property Guarantee Sales Mortgage, or HECM, ‘s the only reverse mortgage insured because of the U.S. Authorities, that is only available due to an enthusiastic FHA-recognized lender. Instead of needing to find traditional financing, consumers ages 62 and you may earlier can find a different sort of home when you’re eliminating mortgage repayments* because of a contrary mortgage (Without a doubt, they’ll be accountable for expenses possessions fees and required homeowners’ insurance). This could assist them to even more easily pay for an upgrade, or spend less currency out-of-pocket. Retiring Boomers are going for in order to maintain a gentle lifetime when you look at the an excellent house you to best suits their requirements. You own the home, with your identity on the name while the house buy and a reverse home loan closure are rolling into the that, and make your process simpler. Exactly how much Are going to be Lent?...
Read MoreNote: For everyone this type of method, we require a distinctive SA ID, a month current payslips, ninety days current financial comments
Note: For everyone this type of method, we require a distinctive SA ID, a month current payslips, ninety days current financial comments Email address Send us a message with your amount borrowed, banking facts and all of the mandatory documents affixed. We are going to get back to you immediately to finalise the application. No need for long queue Application can be done online. Prepare yourself, follow the actions less than and the money will be in your account for a passing fancy big date. Pertain On the web or thru Email Publish all the Expected Data Indication Electronic Bargain Agree Debit Purchase Mandate Discovered Fee for a passing fancy Go out What is actually an unsecured loan? An enthusiastic unsecured personal bank loan was money lent regarding a lender you to definitely is not secured from the property such as a house otherwise vehicle more a predetermined period of time. What is the difference in mortgage and an annual percentage rate? The speed is just one factor of your cost of the borrowed funds. The full cost would be knew from the Apr that is the fresh new annual cost of that loan comprehensive each of interest rate and all most other related charge. Particularly, the cost of a keen origination fee is included throughout the Apr. When you compare financing situations, it’s important to contrast brand new Annual percentage rate each and every equipment. Just how long does it decide to try score my money? Personal loan financing is actually moved to your second business day when the the new terms was acknowledged ahead of 5pm Saturday-Saturday leaving out holidays. If your words are accepted shortly after 5pm , toward a sunday, or on a journey, money was transmitted for the following business day. Can it connect with my personal credit score? Checking the https://paydayloancolorado.net/buena-vista/ rates with the Upstart doesn’t apply to your credit rating. For people who go-ahead with your application once searching a speed your own credit score is influenced. Once you look at your price, we create good “smooth borrowing from the bank query.” Mellow credit issues on the statement dont decrease your credit get, nevertheless often see when you glance at your claim that which inquiry was made. While you are provided financing and you may proceed with the application, an effective “difficult credit inquiry” might possibly be completed to verify the accuracy of the app. This will be submitted while the an inquiry on your declaration and it will impact your credit score. Operating? On submission of one’s aforementioned application form, some of your information will instantly end up being sent to each of the lenders in our system at the same time. For every bank provides her application, connected to ours which can instantly influence your own qualifications for the fly and must your be coordinated with a loan provider, they make available to you financing give. Mortgage Bring / Acceptance? Once you have started coordinated which have a lender, you will be served with their loan render and you may words. The quantity brand new paired financial is prepared to provide often depend on their qualifications requirements and may also be less than you to start with questioned. You may then have the option concerning whether to agree on regards to the offer or simply just refuse they. Should you accept the offer the funds is gone to live in you. Financial Import? Into the desired of your mortgage provide, the money might possibly be sent head to your checking account using the information you provided in the app process....
Read More10 Nonbank Lenders for Home business Financing
10 Nonbank Lenders for Home business Financing By: Jessica Elliott, Factor & Dan Casarella, Factor Particular small businesses who are in need of financial support try to find a normal financial loan, where it sign up for capital thanks to an extended process on the regional bank. Yet not, advertisers have the option of using nonbank loan providers getting short-identity funds otherwise payday loans. Even when such alternative lenders routinely have higher interest rates and you will larger or even more frequent repayments, however they are apt to have less strict requirements and loan label freedom, leading them to attractive options for brand new startups. If the providers means capital while should not wade through the old-fashioned business mortgage procedure, listed below are 10 choice loan providers to take on. Fundbox: Safest nonbank lending app Fundbox are an online financing system providing quick-term credit lines and you will money. Entrepreneurs generate a week money predicated on identity lengths regarding 12 or 24 weeks to possess lines of credit and you may 24 or 52 months to have quick-name money. Fundbox cannot costs a penalty if you pay off your loan very early and there are not one origination charges. The applying techniques is more obtainable than just particular solution credit networks because people hook the accounting software otherwise organization bank account. Fundbox spends this short article so you can approve or refuse your application in this minutes. Shortly after recognized and signed online, nonbank lenders could possibly get import money with the business account as soon since the 2nd business day. $one hundred,100 inside annual money. Six months in operation. An individual FICO get out of 600 or higher. A business savings account. Fora Economic was a primary bank in the office funding and will be offering a couple items: business loans and you will seller cash advances. Loan terms could possibly get extend doing 15 weeks, while the new MCA terms and conditions and you can payment amounts are very different based on the businesses money. Fora Financial stands out off their loan providers because also provides very early percentage discounts. Entrepreneurs have to over a-one-web page software and publish around three months’ worth of charge card statements from the on the web portal. This new recognition process takes a day or shorter, and advertisers can also be discovered money in as little as 72 instances. Companies can not have open bankruptcies in order to safe financial support and should have been in business for at least six months. On top of that, the firm need often $5,one hundred thousand within the charge card sales www.cashadvancecompass.com/personal-loans-tx/fort-worth/ or $several,100 from inside the gross sales so you’re able to qualify. BlueVine: Perfect for startups BlueVine was an economic technology company giving financial functions particularly just like the invoice factoring, lines of credit, and the Small business Connection (SBA) Income Safeguards Program (PPP) financing. Rotating lines of credit terms is to possess six or 12 months, if you’re PPP and you may charge factoring (aka factoring receivables) terminology are very different. Brand new apps grab five in order to 10 minutes to completepanies can be connect their accounting software otherwise providers bank account, otherwise capable upload bills for the on the internet portal. Approvals take place in twenty four hours otherwise shorter. Business so you’re able to company (B2B) startups with at the very least three months in business, a minimum FICO score regarding 530, and you may $ten,100000 within the month-to-month revenue can use to possess a charge factoring loan. Personal lines of credit require at least FICO get away...
Read MoreExactly what are the finest choices for a great $2 hundred financing with less than perfect credit?
Exactly what are the finest choices for a great $2 hundred financing with less than perfect credit? College Hunting – Of several mothers get $two hundred payday loan unsecured loans whenever its infants begin school. Seems like college supplies apparently costs a few hundred cash. Weekend Trip – Whether you are taking your sweetheart out-of-town or the children are to try out recreations on the other side of your own condition. Two hundred or so cash may come for the very handy. Veterinarian Costs – Canine consumed particular chicken from your food dish, sadly the fresh hand was still about meat. A fast visit to the brand new veterinarian so there happens $two hundred cash. Holidays – Regardless http://cashadvancecompass.com/personal-loans-tn/philadelphia if you are purchasing gifts getting Christmas otherwise completing the refrigerator for all the family unit members, short fund is a good idea. When anyone think of borrowing a small amount of money they usually constantly look to quick unsecured loans. It just is not really worth the hassle to go to a lender and you may manage its mortgage officer, specifically if you has poor credit. Quick unsecured loans have been most expensive however they are along with easier to qualify for plus easier. Check out possibilities you should know regarding in the no brand of purchase. $2 hundred Personal loans – Also referred to as signature loans. Of a lot on line lenders provide these types of financing and also you constantly improve repayments having installments that will be owed per month. Extremely unsecured loan organizations do not look at your credit history. You will want to assume high interest levels, once more by higher risk of this these loans. Examine On the internet Loan providers Wage advance Loans – There are also $2 hundred online pay day loans or at the a shop dependent which condition you live in. This is exactly most likely your priciest option and you will be owed the brand new soonest, in your second pay day. Mastercard Advance – You may be able to utilize your mastercard discover a cash loan. Expect to pay increased commission for this service than their normal charge card Annual percentage rate. Pawnbrokers – Usually a quick and easy way to place a couple of hundred bucks on the wallet. If you want to acquire $two hundred as quickly as possible bring an item on shop and you can acquire contrary to the things worth. Zero credit checks and no awaiting a decision. What’s a poor credit score? A dismal credit is things less than a beneficial 600 credit rating. Fortunately that enterprises offering short funds in the the 2 hundred range are not that concerned about their genuine credit rating therefore most likely are not element of the choice to help you financing for your requirements. not, a poor credit score usually, will eventually, become a problem and value you some funds. You really need to take steps to start boosting your credit which will not harm you later. How can i get a $two hundred financing really fast? It is convenient than ever before to obtain good $2 hundred financing when you use your own mobile device otherwise a computer. They used to be more expensive currency caught town looking to have financing lay that it was worthy of. If you like a little bit of currency, it actually was nearly a tale. Now you just click several keys on your pill and you can currency comes up on your savings account for the second team date. Hence bank must i like as i borrow...
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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