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Collection Overview
Title: Elizabeth "Lisa" Kliger Personal Papers and Music, 1970-2005
ID: 26/20/358
Primary Creator: Kliger, Elizabeth "Lisa"
Extent: 5.0 cubic feet
Arrangement: Unarranged and unprocessed
Date Acquired: 05/02/2025
Subjects: American folk music, Music
Scope and Contents of the Materials
Consists of research papers, field notes and logs, sound recordings, pamphlets, photographs, correspondence, theatre scripts, poetry, and music documenting Kliger's career as a student and musician at the University of Illinois as well as her teaching in the Peace Corps, research in Puerto Rico, and working as a free-lance editor.
Collection Historical Note
Elizabeth “Lisa” Kliger was born in Evanston, Illinois in 1952 to her musically inclined parents who inspired her interests and careers. From 1970 to 1974, Kliger was an undergraduate student at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She earned her degree in Independent Studies in Folk Music. While studying for her undergraduate degree, she learned the banjo and sang original songs with it at the Red Herring Coffee House. In 1975 she became a freelance folklorist for Rounder Records while in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. The following year she returned to the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign for her Masters in Teaching English as a Second Language, which she completed in 1978. Kliger moved to Southern Thailand and was stationed as a Peace Corps volunteer in Songkhla. She taught university level English to Thai English teachers at Srinakharinwirot University. She often incorporated her banjo music into her teaching methods. At the end of her service, she married her longtime boyfriend Bruce Barnes and moved to Singapore in 1980. Kliger worked as a freelance writer and became an in-house editor and writer of children’s books and educational materials for FEP International Private Ltd (formerly McGraw-Hill). From 1986 to 1987, Kliger resided in Hilo, Hawaii for her husband’s job at the Mauna Kea Observatory. She attended the University of Hawaii to study music and theater. Her next destination was to New Mexico for her husband’s residence at the National Solar Observatory site in 1988. Kliger worked as a freelancer and edited books for publishing houses like Random House, Crown, Viking, and Penguin. She also began attending Denver Publishing Institute in 1989. Kliger moved to Ellensburg, Washington and continued her freelance publishing work while attending Central Washington University for musical education. At Central Washington University she began writing the musical Noodlehead! Noodlehead! is based on both the Russian poem “The Little Humpbacked Horse" and Lisa’s poem “Petya Noodlehead and the Pony of Light.” The hero of “The Little Humpbacked Horse" reminded her of her Ukrainian grandfather and inspired her own works. From 1996 to 2011 she had a variety of jobs working as an archivist, cataloger, and editor. In the most recent decade she has written for her community in Moscow, Idaho, where she composes poetry and letters to the editor.
Subject/Index Terms
Administrative Information
Repository:
The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music
Acquisition Source:
Lisa Kliger
Acquisition Method:
Gift
Box and Folder Listing
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Student, 1970-1990],
[
Series 2: Teaching and Literary, 1978-2024],
[
Series 3: Musician, 1971-2005],
[All]
- Series 1: Student, 1970-1990
- Consists of newspaper clippings of the Daily Illini, coursework, original songs, and event flyers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, working papers and music from Rounder Records, playwriting coursework and research from the University of Hawaii at Hilo, and early play drafts and orchestration coursework from Central Washington University. These materials document Elizabeth "Lisa" Kliger's life as a student between the years of 1970-1978, 1986-1987, and 1990 as well as her time as a freelance folklorist for Rounder Records in Arecibo, Puerto Rico in 1975. Items of note include materials about the folk community at the Red Herring coffee shop in Urbana in Box 1 Folder 2 and a flyer from the First National Women's Folk Music Festival in 1974 in Box 1 Folder 4.
- Box 1
- Folder 1: Daily Illini and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Publications, 1968-1976
- Folder 2: University of Illinois, Red Herring Days, 1970s
- Folder 3: University of Illinois School of Music Recital Programs, 1972-1977
- Folder 4: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, First National Women's Music Festival, 1974
- Folder 5: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Undergraduate, English as a Second Language Masters of Arts, 1976-1978
- Of note is a copy of the book Christy's New Songster and Black Joker.
- Folder 6: University of Illinois Lisa Kliger Original Songs, 1970s-1990s
- Folder 7: Rounder Records Correspondence, 1970-1987
- Folder 8: Puerto Rico and Rounder Records: Working Papers for Rounder Project, 1970s, 1970s
- Folder 9: Rounder Records Working Papers and Correspondence, 1975
- Folder 10: La Musica Folklorica de Puerto Rico by Francisco López Cruz, 1975
- Folder 11: Puerto Rico Music Notes, 1975
- Folder 12: Puerto Rico and Rounder Records, 1975
- Of note is a wirebound notebook containing Lisa Kliger's notes for a Recording Techniques certification from Sunday Recording Studio in Urbana, Illinois.
- Folder 13: Puerto Rico and Rounder Records Music and Lyrics, 1975-1976
- Folder 14: Puerto Rico and Rounder Records, Including Photographs and Photographic Slides, 1975-1977
- Folder 15: Puerto Rico Working Notebook, 1975
- Folder 16: Notes for Neat Fall, University of Hawai'i Hilo, 1987
- Folder 17: University of Hawai'i Hilo, Playwriting, 1987
- Folder 18: Central Washington University Music and Notes, Including Early Noodlehead, 1 of 2, 1990
- Folder 19: Central Washington University Music and Notes, Including Early Noodlehead, 2 of 2, 1990
- Folder 20: Cental Washington University, Orchestration Class Notes and Music with Dr. John Mickel, 1996
- Series 2: Teaching and Literary, 1978-2024
- Contains original short stories, poetry, articles, and artwork, Peace Corp documentation, teaching materials for English as a Second Language and banjo, and career portfolios. These materials document Elizabeth "Lisa" Kliger's work as a Peace Corp volunteer in Thailand, a freelance editor and author in Singapore, a music and English teacher, and a poet between the years of 1978-1984 and 1989-2020.
- Box 2
- Folder 1: "Song of the Ruby Jungle", Including Photographic Negatives, 1965-1989
- Folder 2: "Song of the Ruby Jungle" Artwork Slides, circa 1995
- Slides by Paul KIiger, artwork by Ruth Kliger, text by Lisa Kliger.
- Folder 3: Peace Corps, Thailand- Group 63, 1978-1980
- Folder 4: Banjo Teaching, Songs, Techniques, Transcribed by Lisa, 1980s
- Folder 5: "Hanuman and the Heart of Rama" Manuscripts, Documents, and Reference Materials, 1981-1983
- Folder 6: Poem- "The Moon Flute" by Lisa Kliger, for Grow Magazine, Singapore, 1981-1983
- Contains Grow Magazine, November 1981 final copy, and several drafts.
- Folder 7: "Why" Series, F.E.P. Publishing, 1 of 2, 1981-1984
- Folder 8: "Why" Series, F.E.P. Publishing, 2 of 2, 1981-1984
- Folder 9: Singapore "The Milky Way Bride" Drafts, Illustrations, and Correspondence, 1981-1984
- Folder 10: Article- "The Maestro Who Plays for Love" by Lisa Kliger, for Signature Magazine, Singapore, 1982
- Folder 11: Singapore, Bookmaking, F.E.P. International, 1983-1984
- Folder 12: Poetry and Correspondence, 1989-2020
- Folder 13: Script- "Flying is Forever", Scene 3, 2000s
- Partial script.
- Folder 14: Archival Work, Program Applications, and Notes, Washington State University, 1996-2006
- Folder 15: Resume and Portfolio, 2001-2011
- Series 3: Musician, 1971-2005
- This includes all Red Herring, banjo lesson notes, Noodlehead!, Dancing Trout Band, etc.
- Box 2
- Folder 1: "The Little Humpbacked Horse" by P. Yershov, 1980 edition, 1980
- Folder 2: Noodlehead, First Draft of Music, undated
- Folder 3: Noodlehead, Correspondence and Drafts, 1984-2005
- Folder 4: "Noodlehead" Script, Ensemble Information, and Music, Copyrighted, 1993
Copyrighted 1993.
Corresponds with Noodlehead cassettes in Box 7 and 8.
- Folder 5: Classical Banjo Book, copyright 1887
- Folder 6: begin corrections here, 1996
- Contains handwritten sheet music, printed music, assignments, and other class notes.
- Folder 7: Central Washington University music courses: compositions and notes containing songs from Noodlehead!, 1990s
- Folder 8: Central Washington University music courses: compositions and notes containing songs from Noodlehead!, 1990s
- Folder 9: Noodlehead! correspondence and drafts, 1984-2005
- Consists of drafts Kliger's original poem "Petya Noodlehead and the Pony of Light" from 1984 and correspondence and ephemera relating to her theatrical adaptation Noodlehead!
- Folder 10: WHY series drafts, FEP International 1/2, 1981-1984
- Folder 11: WHY series drafts, FEP International 2/2, 1981-1984
Browse by Series:
[
Series 1: Student, 1970-1990],
[
Series 2: Teaching and Literary, 1978-2024],
[
Series 3: Musician, 1971-2005],
[All]
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