ELIZABETH "LISLE" KULBACH

1948 - 2024

KULBACH, Elizabeth "Lisle" Age 76, of Arlington, Massachusetts, passed quietly on June 7, 2024. She was born on April 4, 1948 in Berlin, Germany in the aftermath of World War II to Richard and Johanna Kulbach. When she was nine months old, her father died. She and her mother traveled to Switzerland via the Berlin Airlift and eventually sailed to New York City where they were welcomed by relatives. Lisle attended schools in New York City, including City and Country and New Lincoln. Her mother was a renowned music teacher and gave Lisle her earliest music instruction. Lisle became a versatile vocalist and instrumentalist of winds, strings and keyboards. She studied piano with Russian pianist Vladzia Mashke in New York City and went on to receive a degree in harpsichord from the New England Conservatory in Boston. She was mentored by Marleen Montgomery and taught and performed with Quadrivium, the school for early music founded and directed by Marleen in Boston. Lisle was a founding member of Voice of the Turtle, which performed Sephardic music in the United States and internationally and produced many recordings. She was a member of the faculty of Pinewoods, Mountain Collegium and Conclave of the Viola da Gamba Society of America. She taught for Powers Music School and Concord Academy in Massachusetts, Metropolitan Youth Orchestra of Central Alabama and was founding instructor of Bloom Early Music Workshop of Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. Privately she taught recorder, strings and piano and coached lively consorts. She traveled extensively, not only because she was curious about the world but also to meet members of her family, whose rich history she had studied over many years. The results of her in-depth research are archived at the Leo Baeck Institute under the key words Kulbach Frankl. In addition, a documentary film about the family, Ivy Roots, can be found under her name on YouTube. Lisle was preceded in death by her mother and father; her brother, Bernhardt Kulbach of Munich, Germany; her uncle, Wolfgang Frankl of Rome and Terni, Italy; her aunts, Susan Frankl Wilk of New York City and Fairfield, Iowa and Regula Frankl Meeske Davis of New York City and Sandia Park, New Mexico; and her cousin, Rosemary Frankl Cardarelli of Oro Station, Canada. She passed away after courageously meeting the challenge of cancer for five and a half years. She will be deeply missed by her beloved partner, Beverly Char of Waltham, Massachusetts; her first cousins, Brigida Pesce of Rome Italy, Paolo Frankl of Paris, France, Jane Schmidt-Wilk of Fairfield, Iowa and Vera Schreiber of Frankfurt, Germany; and her nieces, Stephanie Kulbach of Berlin, Germany and Sandra Kulbach of Edling, Germany; as well as countless other family members, colleagues, students and devoted friends. There will be an interment service at Princeton Friends Meeting in Princeton, New Jersey and a Celebration of her Life in Boston, both on dates to be determined.

View the online memorial for Elizabeth "Lisle" KULBACH