Lia Uribe

Lia Uribe is associate chair and associate professor of music at the University of Arkansas department of music. Dr. Uribe maintains an active career as a chamber musician, orchestral player, and artist-teacher. She has performed and taught in venues and festivals in Colombia, Spain, Bolivia, Canada, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Finland, Argentina, Germany, Guatemala, Ecuador, Greece, Venezuela, Japan, Peru, England, Thailand, and the United States, including solo and chamber recitals recitals at several International Double Reed Society conferences, organization in which she also has served as part of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion sub-committee. Lia performs and tours on regular basis with the Lyrique Quintette, woodwind quintet in residence at the University of Arkansas. With them, she published in 2018 the album "Arrivals and Departures: Music of the Americas". Her research is centered in Latin-American, Latinx, and historically marginalized and underrepresented music and composers. As an advocate for new works, Lia Uribe has premiered and commissioned numerous works for the bassoon. 

Besides her music making, Dr. Uribe is passionate about inclusiveness, representation, and diversity in the arts. In 2017 she was a fellow for the NALAC (National Association of Latino Arts a Cultures) Leadership Institute, a week-long rigorous program in arts management and leadership development that delivers innovative and practical strategies that lead to successful business practices in the arts. She was also selected to participate in the 9th Annual NALAC Advocacy Leadership Institute in 2019, a 2-month virtual preparatory curriculum which culminated in a 3-day intensive training in Washington D.C., focused on building arts advocacy skills and arts policy shaping on the national and international stage. In January of 2019 she was invited to join the biennial Meg Quigley Vivaldi Competition and Symposium for young women bassoonists from the Americas as a panelist, speaking of her work and its impact on people and communities; recently she became part of the MQVC team, where she furthers diversity initiatives and connections with Latin-America.

Dr. Uribe’s work with the community connects her endeavors as a scholar with that of artists and art leaders in her surroundings. Since 2018 Dr. Uribe has worked as a facilitator for Artist INC, a Mid-America Arts Alliance professional development program for artists. Since 2018 she is a member of the Walton Arts Center Board of Directors where she co-chairs the DEIB board committee. In 2022 she joined the Creative Arkansas Community Hub & Exchange (CACHE) inaugural board of directors. CACHE, formed in 2019, acts as the central regional agency committed to connecting, supporting, and developing Northwest Arkansas’ arts and culture communities, including individual artists, non-profits, creative industries, municipalities, and philanthropies.

Lia writes and hosts Sound Perimeter for KUAF 91.3, a weekly segment dedicated to diverse voices in and around music that airs on Thursdays during Ozarks at Large. Her most recent team project, RefleXions Music Series, is funded by the University of Arkansas Chancellor’s Grant for the Humanities and Performing Arts Initiative, and sponsored by the J. William Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences, the Department of Music, and KUAF 91.3. RefleXions is conceived as a celebration of music, musicians, advocates, and audiences, as a series of events that foster creative justice and diversity through opportunities to reflect, learn, grow, change, and teach.

Originally from Cali, Colombia, Lia Uribe earned a bachelor’s degree in bassoon performance from Conservatorio de Música de la Facultad de Artes, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, followed by an artist residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada. Dr. Uribe also holds a Masters of Music from the University of Arkansas and a Doctorate of Musical Arts from the University of Kansas. In 2021, Lia earned a certificate on Equity and Inclusion in the Wrokplace from Cornell University, and in 2022, an Executive Graduate Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship, Cultural Agency, Arts Innovation, Community Development, Business Management, Design Thinking, and Education Leadership from the Global Leaders Program. Presently she is working on an MBA in Arts Entrepreneurship through the Global Leaders Program curated and certified by Harvard, Duke, Georgetown, McGill, NYU, and Bard College.