Step-by-Action so you can an effective Va Mortgage: #step 3 Prequalifying
Step-by-Action so you can an effective Va Mortgage: #step 3 Prequalifying Adopting the 6 simple steps to a Virtual assistant mortgage might help result in the techniques wade better. Find out the DO’S and you will DON’TS of recommended third step: Prequalifying. Virtual assistant Financing Prequalifying is among the first tips a borrower may choose to simply take once they provides linked to an effective Virtual assistant-acknowledged bank. Prequalification try a primary investigations of your own borrower’s ability to meet the requirements for a loan based on preliminary facts about money, loans and you may borrowing from the bank. Prequalifying typically happen just before official documents try received and you can analyzed from the the brand new underwriter, so it doesn’t make sure loan approval. Just like the Virtual assistant financing prequalification is not the same as recognition, what’s the value of which optional step? Earliest, prequalifying can provide a good ballpark price range to own domestic search. Additionally, it will help the loan officer rating an earlier take a look at your own borrowing from the bank and you will earnings and you may place prospective conditions that you’ll slow down your loan. Will, these issues try lesser and will end up being resolved by paying away from an old financial obligation or calling a collector to clear up a keen error. If you decide to prequalify, you could commonly end unexpected situations after once you done their specialized loan application. To help you get the best from the fresh new prequalification process, here are some dos and you may don’ts to follow along with to own Virtual assistant financing prequalifying: 1. Perform tell your loan administrator everything. Would certainly be surprised at what a loan officer need to truly get your application come. Inquiries instance Are you presently separated? and Are you willing to rating kid support? may sound slightly personal at this initial phase from inside the your relationships. not, anything and everything that have to would with your income, loans and you can credit must be available. Making pieces of suggestions out of the initially conversation with your financing officer can get cause problems later. End up being honest from the start which means your financing manager provides the ability to make it easier to succeed. 2. Carry out make inquiries. If you were to think one thing in your monetary profile or personal lifestyle might be strongly related to being qualified for a loan, ask about they. Perhaps you have local rental income or tips out of the second work. Maybe you have a big hide of cash into the a pension account or any other asset this is simply not obvious for the loan officer in the beginning. Most property can help produce approved, specifically if you take a fixed earnings, so make sure you bring her or him up if you choose to just take this step. 3. Do understand that prequalifying isn’t the identical to recognition. Should your financing administrator informs you that you’re prequalified, this doesn’t mean you’re immediately accepted for a financial loan. You’ll still have to establish, by way of papers, that you qualify. When you can support the earnings, financial obligation and credit information you gave for it action, and there are not any most other being qualified conditions that come up, following it is likely that good the underwriter commonly stamp Approved on your own Virtual assistant application for the loan. Prequalification feels like new shotgun at the beginning of a race. You have been because of the rule so you can proceed, but your application...
Read MoreAlthough not, the consequence of the brand new stage of a few of these programs remains to be seen
Although not, the consequence of the brand new stage of a few of these programs remains to be seen Delinquency prices and you can bankruptcies increased briefly in the beginning of the pandemic but continued its a lot of time-title downward pattern on the days that used. An enthusiastic eviction moratorium and you may federal and private forbearance rules towards the of a lot types of obligations have gone households best off, in part by allowing many houses to help you forego required attract repayments. A study of the main disparities from the advancements among additional home implies around three issues of concern. You to definitely, since superior as it is one to financial service and the overall data recovery have gone really households zero worse out-of than ever the pandemic, many homes continue to have precarious financial circumstances because they entered brand new pandemic inside an excellent precarious financial predicament. Several, not all properties was basically reached from the financial service, new work sector recuperation, and advantage speed expands; when along with latest and you may asked expands in book, certain households’ funds has worsened within the last two years. And you will, about three, the fresh new pandemic is actually ongoing and most federal pandemic-associated apps have wound off, putting household cash at risk as anybody face the latest fitness, a job, and you may monetary troubles. Excessive Offers More than Current Styles Significant changes in labor-field earnings, government transfers, additionally the ability to eat products or services possess lead to surprisingly solid discounts relative to pre-pandemic trend. Continuously offers into the COVID several months means the real difference anywhere between two strategies. The initial size ‘s the difference in genuine disposable individual income (DPI) and number of DPI whether or not it got increased into the 2020 and you can 2021 at the same average pace because the across the 201819 several months (throw away income sum to the contour 1b). The next level is the difference in actual individual outlays and you can the degree of outlays once they had proceeded at the their pre-pandemic speed (personal costs share into contour 1b). Given that DPI is more than development within the 2020 and you may 2021 and outlays had been below trend (contour 1a), the result is continuously deals out-of money. Away from , elevated incomes shared about $1.3 trillion while spending shortfalls discussed more or less $step one.dos trillion so you can a projected $dos.5 trillion excessively coupons kept of the households inside the rising prices-modified 2020 cash. dos The combination off strong earnings help and pandemic-constrained individual purchasing has actually suggested one particular weeks experienced extraordinarily highest rates regarding preserving. Into the , monetary perception costs (EIPs) and you may stretched jobless insurance (UI) advantages enhanced actual DPI because of the 14 % and you may domestic rescuing because a percent out-of DPI hit an archive high of 34 percent since the real paying fell 18 percent prior to February; the outcome was over $400 billion excessively savings when you look at the , another and you can third series off EIPs led to a lot more spikes regarding the protecting rates. The level of paying might have been nearer to development because the loans Taylor Corners CT, and level of DPI have stayed slightly near to pattern because the month-to-month protecting rates averaged 14 percent. Income-Related Policy Alter and you will Work Money The majority of the brand new outrageous power from inside the money once the try owed so you can authorities societal masters (see the lime taverns during the shape...
Read MoreHow to Compare Board Management Software Pricing
Whether your company is searching for a board portal software the first time or upgrading to a newer system the cost of your purchase is likely to be at the forefront of your mind. Using the right techniques to evaluate pricing of vendors with the capabilities of the solution can help that you pick the right solution for your particular needs. How you evaluate board portal prices depends on the operations of your company and the number of users who will use the software, and the amount of digital space you’ll need. Consider your legal requirements, and if you require additional tools for performing specialized tasks. A plan that gives you a mix of the essentials and some optional tools can help you not pay for features that aren’t worth the cost. Some companies calculate the cost of a system with per-feature and per user approaches which take into account the number of users, tools and storage space that companies require. Others offer a fixed-cost service that lets you see all the storage and tools upfront and avoids the cost of unexpected expenses later. The features that of a top-quality board management software solution could include are designed to enhance your organizational processes and capabilities for governance. This includes features that make it easier to manage meeting admin tasks like creating and sharing agendas, creating and disseminating documents, as well as recording the outcomes of board meetings. It also has features that allow you to communicate with your team. These include document annotation tools, discussion and chat tools, as well as other. Other useful features include contemporary virtual boardrooms task-tracking tools, voting and surveys to collect feedback within or outside of meetings, as well as eSignature to assist in the signing and approval process of important...
Read MoreHow to Evaluate Virtual Data Room Pricing
Companies that require highly secure storage for their data/information/documentation need a virtual data room (VDR) solution. It’s important to be aware that not all VDR vendors are alike in terms of pricing. Some VDR vendors offer transparent pricing and some are known for their price. When you’re evaluating the benefits of a VDR one, it is essential to decide on your budget and the amount of files you’d like to upload. This will allow you to choose a vendor that meets your needs, and avoid any unanticipated costs or fees in the future. There are a variety of methods to price a virtual dataroom: by page, by number of users, by the amount of data that is stored or by a flat price. Each of these options has pros and cons, but a flat-fee rate is the most transparent. It allows deal teams to focus less on overage charges and more on what is best for the transaction. iDeals provides a good example of the virtual data room that is both affordable and functionally advanced. The plan offers 24/7 customer support, easy uploading and management of documents advanced security and a DVD that contains the archive https://boardroom-tips.org/what-ideals-board-software-has-to-offer-with-respect-to-its-pricing-and-plans/ of the data room at end. You can also try a free trial and a range subscription plans available. Fordata is, on the other hand, is targeted at large businesses and offers an unlimited number of admins, projects and users as well as a flexible storage capacity of up to...
Read MoreWhat things to Discover Before you take Aside property Recovery Financing
What things to Discover Before you take Aside property Recovery Financing People believe that investing in your home is never a bad idea. A proven loan in Glenwood Springs Colorado way the place you is spend money on your home is by way of a property recovery financing. Household recovery financing may either getting a significant tool to own leveraging value-adding projects or supply you this new technique of taking crisis solutions taken care of. In any case, it is very important know the way you can finest play with an effective domestic restoration mortgage to improve your house. A way to Financing Domestic Renovation Finance With regards to securing funding for home improvements, there are some instruments that may help you get the capital you would like: Household Collateral Credit line (HELOC) this is exactly a great revolving personal line of credit (works the same as credit cards) that makes use of maximum property value the home’s collateral given that equity. You should use so it line of credit getting something, from purchasing a married relationship so you’re able to funding a trailer, however it helps make a really a fantastic choice for domestic restoration, since the lent finance could well be always put worth to help you your property. Because the limit property value your residence would be significant, so it bitious renovations venture playing. Household Collateral Financing that it mortgage is different from good HELOC in this it does not rotate each month. Yet not, you will want to pick down rates than just with a HELOC. Extent your be eligible for during the a property guarantee mortgage tend to be in line with the difference between your own home’s limitation worthy of and the remainder of your home loan. Essentially, you are going to qualify for a bigger domestic equity loan for folks who was basically expenses in your house for extended. You can take-out all or a portion of the family guarantee loan you qualify for. Then it recommended for reount of cash so you can complete. Personal loan when your house collateral options are not tempting, there is always the potential for taking out fully an unsecured loan to accomplish your property recovery. As rates was large for this tool, it may be a good idea to have quicker programs that you plan on completing and you can investing in rapidly. House Recovery Financing are essential for real House Buyers If mission is through buying a fixer-top, build some upgrades throughout three to help you half a year, and then offer within a substantial cash, a home repair loan is not just a greatit would be requisite. By doing this, a house repair loan can be used to fund all of the home developments and easily be paid toward financial support gains in the household profit. Rating a fixer-higher at a bargain speed Safe a house repair mortgage Would really worth-including ideas, eg modernizing your kitchen, improving the household exterior question, otherwise deciding to make the toilet far more practical Sell the renovated domestic at the a notably high speed than just and therefore it absolutely was ordered, by using the funding development to spend down the do-it-yourself financing Home Renovation Financing Shall be Familiar with Raise Defense and you may Livability Whenever livability and you may shelter is compromised, taking right out a house restoration loan is a great treatment for have the gathering in order to secure way of life conditions. Including, if for example the dilapidated asphalt rooftop is actually dripping heavily, it could be useful to look at hail...
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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