You could find your self unemployed just after a disaster impacts, therefore, the FTC warns to
You could find your self unemployed just after a disaster impacts, therefore, the FTC warns to Check them out: Request IDs, certificates, evidence of insurance rates, and you can recommendations. See if regional email address is found on the vehicles. Consult with condition and you may local user security organizations to possess problems. As well, need photos of its company labels and you will logos, get phone numbers or take an image of the ID so it is more challenging to allow them to would an artificial term having no link with their crappy acts. Have more than that imagine: Query individuals you believe having information. In the internet decades, you’ll be able to quickly lookup figures on the phone in order to see if he could be inline with had written and you will globe estimates for similar efforts. Investigate contract carefully: Guarantee that most of the claims come into composing and you see what you’re signing. Just like over, research online company agreements and equivalent providers sales to guarantee the data files was verbiage are similar. Never ever pay during the dollars: Rather than make the last percentage before the efforts are over and you’re pleased with they. On that prevent, with regards to examining and you will controlling will set you back, watch out for designers you to attempt to increase the expense of product. Require detail by detail breakdowns down seriously to the individual will set you back from nails, chatrooms and you can roofing system offers and you can in which they are to acquire him or her, like Lowes or House Depot. You should buy real assist shopping for functions of: Then, and extremely significantly, ask if the person is taking an effective specialist write off as they almost certainly was, but may end up being charging you complete retail price. Since builders will get in large quantities and you will do high business with these shops, they rating high discounts – that you should consider whenever pricing out household fixes. Because of the reducing your protect by the pretending become anybody he could be perhaps not, even arriving under the guise from a guardian angel condition otherwise government official promising seriously needed relief, provides or fund. Imposter scams have of a lot varieties but functions in the same way: a great scam artist pretends to get anybody your faith and attempts to persuade that publish him or her money or provide personal information. Particular fraudsters imagine to get regulators officials, protection inspectors or electricity experts exactly who say instant job is required. Inquire about IDs. When the anybody requires you for the money or debt guidance, like your bank account or charge card number, it is a scam. Know that FEMA will not costs app charge. When someone desires currency so you’re able to qualify for FEMA financing, they . Past precisely the money into your checking account, fraudsters are also starving to own study, private information and you may facts associated with the handmade cards Your lost your residence and tend to be out-of work, although scammer’s work is nonetheless when planning on taking exactly what nothing your have gone It sit concerning your likelihood of getting a job and often ask you to shell out one which just get one – which is a sure sign of a scam. CareerOneStop : Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Labor, CareerOneStop lists hundreds of thousands of jobs. State and you may county offices : Your own state’s Service from Work might have job listings or perhaps able to point you to regional...
Read MoreThese firms financing the loan fund that Institution insures
These firms financing the loan fund that Institution insures The brand new Federal Housing Government (FHA), that is area of the Agencies out-of Property and you can Metropolitan Creativity (HUD), administers some solitary-nearest and dearest mortgage insurance rates applications. These software operate as a result of FHA-recognized credit establishments hence submit applications to have the property appraised and also have the consumer’s borrowing from the bank approved. HUD does not make lead fund to help people purchase residential property. This new Area 203(k) System try HUD’s pri towards treatment and resolve from single- family relations characteristics. Therefore, it is an essential unit to possess people and you may area revitalization and you may to have broadening homeownership options. Because these will be the primary specifications of HUD, it believes you to Point 203(k) is a vital program and you may plans to continue to highly support the application while the loan providers you to take part in it. Of many loan providers features properly made use of the Point 203(k) Program together with state and you may local construction firms and you will nonprofit groups so you can rehabilitate functions. These businesses, together with county and you may local government businesses, have found an effective way to blend Part 203(k) along with other savings, such HUD’s Home, Vow, and you may Society Creativity Cut-off Give Software, to aid individuals. Several county casing finance companies provides customized applications especially for use which have Area 203(k), and lots of loan providers have used the possibilities out of local property businesses and you can nonprofit organizations to help would the new rehabilitation control. HUD in addition to thinks that Area 203(k) Program is a great opportinity for loan providers to show its relationship to help you financing inside the lowest-earnings communities and to help meet their duties underneath the Area Reinvestment Operate (CRA). HUD is dedicated to expanding homeownership potential having family in these communities and you will Point 203(k) is a great equipment for use having CRA-method of credit software. If you have questions regarding brand new 203(k) Program otherwise have an interest in taking an effective 203(k)- insured home mortgage, we advise you to contact an enthusiastic FHA-accepted bank in your area or even the homeownership heart on your own city. When the loan is closed, the fresh proceeds designated into the rehab or upgrade, such as the contingency set-aside, will be placed in an appeal-influence escrow account insured by Federal Deposit Insurance Agency (FDIC) or the Federal Credit Relationship Government (NCUA) Extremely financial money agreements provide merely long lasting funding. That is, the financial institution cannot usually personal the mortgage and launch this new financial proceeds except if the condition and value of the house give adequate financing cover. Whenever rehab is on it, as a result a lender generally speaking necessitates the developments is finished before an extended-identity home loan is created. Whenever a house client desires purchase a home in need of assistance of repair or modernization, he or she typically has to obtain investment very first to order the structure, most money to complete new treatment structure, and you may a permanent financial in the event the job is completed to spend off of the meantime funds. Usually, this new interim funding (the purchase and design money) involves relatively highest interest rates and quick amortization episodes. The newest Part 203(k) System was designed to target this example. The brand new debtor will get a single real estate loan, during the an extended-label repaired (otherwise varying) rates, to invest in both the order plus the rehab of...
Read MoreAll of our Blog Places Your regarding Driver’s Chair
All of our Blog Places Your regarding Driver’s Chair Permitting customers as if you achieve the economic requirements is perhaps all i perform, that is why our company is equipping your with these expert perception, info, and information to obtain indeed there. Mortgage Matters Real estate Solutions Lives & Household Refinance Alternatives APM Insider Preparing in advance to possess Thinking-Functioning Mortgage Standards Qualifying to own a home loan when you are mind-working doesn’t have to be a problems. All of it boils down to providers. Whether you’re thinking-functioning, commission-created, or an entire-big date or every hour personnel, lenders are common seeking the same task after you implement getting a home loan: they wish to ensure there clearly was a premier opportunities you can shell out. In lieu of an excellent W-dos worker, yet not, it will take a little more legwork to ensure mind-employed income. Due to this fact we should bundle in the future and make certain all of your ducks are located in a row early the newest home loan process. Self-employed mortgage conditions constantly involve significantly more file verification and often an excellent longer check your a career records. Thank goodness, with a little big date to your benefit, there are many steps you can take to be sure your own mortgage app appears given that stellar to when the date appear. Increase your Credit history Just like any debtor, self-working home loan conditions are a review of your credit rating and you will credit rating. So be sure to do your due diligence before this recommendations goes into side of someone else. You might receive your credit report for free regarding any one of the three credit agencies otherwise out-of freecreditreport . Go over it with a superb-enamel comb. Contact this new agency if you find an error, you need explanation, otherwise have questions surrounding your credit history. Promote a larger Down payment A huge down payment try a winnings-profit for 2 grounds. Very first, they shows the lending company you’re happy to place surface on online game. Even though self-employed financial standards can include a http://paydayloansconnecticut.com/tariffville downpayment off very little due to the fact step 3%, of a lot is a down payment of approximately 20%. A higher amount says to the lending company you have made a serious commitment to help you owning a home. This really is a relationship you aren’t probably walk away regarding-from the lender’s vision, anyway-if you’ve invested a considerable chunk of money within this family. The next reasoning a huge advance payment will help when you happen to be looking to mitigate the consequences out of mind-functioning financial standards is the fact it lowers the size of the fresh new mortgage. Consider it. Should you want to get good $425,100 house, however, simply have $21,100 to put down (5%), you need to qualify for an excellent $404,one hundred thousand loan. When the, as well, you could lay out $85,one hundred thousand (20%), you need to qualify for a good $340,100000 loan. Including, you’ll likely secure an even more favorable price. Replace your DTI Immediately following securing your taxation statements, and additionally a listing of the assets and you can bills, a loan provider may come with the DTI, otherwise financial obligation-to-income proportion. Which formula can add up each one of these bills, including present month-to-month mortgage loans, loans, bank card repayments, alimony/kid support, and other a good stability. After that it divides one matter by the earnings, that may include 1099 money away from clients if you are care about-working, as well as any more money like book,...
Read MoreExactly how are Friend Mortgage’s cost as compared to federal average?
Exactly how are Friend Mortgage’s cost as compared to federal average? The studies are based on a top level. 5 celebrities means Top. 4 stars means Excellent. 3 famous people equals A good. dos stars translates to Fair. 1 star means Bad. We need your finances to be hired more challenging for your requirements. Which is why the analysis try biased with the even offers one send versatility when you are eliminating-of-pouch can cost you. = Ideal = Higher level = An excellent = Fair = Worst 0% – 3.5% five hundred – 620 How exactly to meet the requirements Your credit rating: In place of certain loan providers, Ally no checking account payday loans in Stafford Springs doesn’t give many options getting borrowers which have less than perfect credit. Even when Ally does not divulge a certain lowest score towards the their website, this means loan providers essentially want a credit history off 640 borrowing from the bank score for most finance and you can 700 to possess jumbo money. Debt-to-money ratio (DTI): Friend often evaluate your disgusting monthly income on the overall number of your own monthly personal debt repayments (including financial costs for your brand new mortgage). The debt-to-earnings ratio (DTI) should be less than 43%, however, keeping which ratio as low as you’ll commonly optimize your odds of taking approved at an aggressive speed. Deposit: Ally also provides particular mortgage brokers that have a down-payment of since reduced since the step 3%. Yet not, someone else — for example jumbo funds — require a minimum deposit off 20%. Work history: You will need proof of money indicating you have got a steady business and money to arrive that you can use to blow their month-to-month financial costs. You can complete every called for documentation on the web. Friend will most likely ask for recent spend stubs, employment ideas, tax returns, and you will bank statements. Based on your position, it’s also possible to need to offer most other evidence of money and you may assets, confirmation away from on the-time book money, a letter detailing gaps for the a position, and you may a divorce case decree. Just how is Friend Mortgage’s re-finance costs? Ally’s software to have a mortgage re-finance can over totally on the web. I discover the new lender’s refinance cost to get just like the fresh federal average. Friend together with intends to intimate in your financing rapidly — 10 weeks faster compared to the federal mediocre. Ally’s home loan rates for the its website are competitive, with many printed prices arriving some time underneath the federal averages. Friend also offers each other repaired- and you will changeable-price choices, and its particular rates will be reduced towards fund having reduced payoff timelines. Friend Home loan suits you if: Ally Mortgage is an excellent solutions while a proper-accredited client trying to find making an application for a fixed-price mortgage, Arm, otherwise jumbo mortgage on the web. You need a minimum downpayment from 20% to own an excellent jumbo mortgage, you could qualify that have only step 3% off for the majority of funds as the an initial-go out buyer. You will need to close-in people, but have a tendency to see the genuine convenience of distribution all of your current files on line and receiving pre-accepted within a few minutes. Rates of interest toward Friend mortgage brokers believe the loan title, and if you choose a fixed or variable speed. Since the personal price possible pay would-be computed centered on your financial back ground, Ally’s attempt prices toward their website are particularly...
Read MoreAscending cost immediately following four repo hikes: Turbulent times to come to possess mortgage sector
Ascending cost immediately following four repo hikes: Turbulent times to come to possess mortgage sector According to the RBI data, property financing a good jumped because of the Rs 2.51 lakh crore so you can Rs lakh crore about several-day months ended – up against a growth away from Rs 1.85 lakh crore in order to Rs lakh crore last year. Five consecutive repo rates hikes by Set aside Lender of Asia (RBI) keeps forced right up interest rates towards the mortgage brokers to the pre-pandemic quantities of . Now, with interest levels on a great three-year a lot of 8.1-nine per cent round the groups, homes fund is generally watching a lag, just after watching an excellent sixteen.cuatro percent rise in the inside the 12-week months concluded . It has get real most readily useful from a 11.6 % growth in the year-ago months. According to RBI data, property loan outstanding popped from the Rs dos.51 lakh crore so you’re able to Rs lakh crore from the twelve-day several months ended – up against an increase away from Rs step 1.85 lakh crore so you’re able to Rs lakh crore a year ago. Because the RBI has hiked the fresh repo speed from the 190 basis items (bps) away from cuatro percent in , if the pandemic roiled the nation, so you can 5.ninety %, professionals point to evidence that more nature hikes can be found in the newest offing, which would then hit the setcor. Subsequent competitive price hikes regarding hereon pen customer belief (in the houses portion), told you Ravi Subramanian, MD & Chief executive officer, Shriram Houses Finance. HDFC had hiked the fresh merchandising best financing rates from the fifty bps appropriate the RBI decision last week, providing home loan cost up to 8.10-9 % around the categories. Centered on Samantak Das, chief economist and head out-of research & REIS, JLL Asia, the newest repo price walk will not augur well towards the genuine property sector, especially the domestic phase, because can lead to enhanced home loan rates. Just like the , since the RBI has grown this new repo rates because of the 190 bps, mortgage cost moved right up because of the normally 80 bps and additional hike is within the offing throughout the future days. Getting a beneficial cue regarding the earlier in the day alert, financial interest rates are essential to go up from the set of 25-30 bps, JLL said. Yet not, the rate next walk could well be however below what homeowners had to shell out 8-9 years back – more ten %. It’s likely that banks might also delay the fresh transmission, considering highest property request during the holiday season. Yet not, if inflation remains within elevated levels, pushing this new RBI so you can aggressively boost rates of interest, there can be certain turbulence in the industry, told you Anuj Puri, chairman, Anarock group. Anarock’s latest User Sentiment Survey finds out you to definitely higher inflation possess majorly influenced new throwaway income of at least 61 per cent off participants. The new survey as well as discovered that property conversion is affected to help you a point in the event that financial rates of interest violation brand new nine.5 % mark, he told you. Ascending pricing immediately following four repo hikes: Disruptive minutes ahead getting financial portion Transformation away from home-based systems payday loans New Hartford Center have increased more one or two-flex inside the very first 1 / 2 of 2022, across the same several months this past year, which increases trajectory keeps stayed when you...
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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