Arizona Arts has named Dr. Lia Uribe as director of the University of Arizona School of Music. An arts administrator, bassoonist, and scholar known for her work expanding the reach and representation of music, Uribe joins one of the nation’s leading academic music programs. She begins August 10, 2026.
Uribe comes to Arizona from the University of Arkansas, where she served as associate dean for arts and humanities and professor of music at the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences. In that role, she partnered with unit leaders to advance creative activity, teaching, and community engagement while guiding leadership development, supporting shared governance, and advising the dean on academic and strategic initiatives.
She joined Arkansas in 2013 as a faculty member in the Department of Music and moved through a series of leadership roles, including director of undergraduate studies, vice chair, and, beginning in 2023, chair of the department, before being named associate dean.
“I am excited to welcome Lia Uribe to the University of Arizona,” said Hasan Elahi, dean at Arizona Arts. “She is an accomplished performer and scholar, a collaborative administrator, and a genuine community builder. She brings a visionary approach that builds on the School of Music’s strengths and helps shape what comes next.”
Uribe succeeds Lori Wiest, who led the school since 2020 and will return to the faculty in the fall.
Creating Opportunities
“The School of Music has remarkable students, faculty, and a long history of excellence, and I am honored to join them,” said Uribe. “My work has always been about creating opportunities for more voices to be heard, and I look forward to building on what this community has already accomplished and connecting it with audiences across Tucson and Southern Arizona.”
As a performer, Uribe has appeared in venues and festivals across more than 20 countries, including Colombia, Spain, Mexico, Finland, Japan, Argentina, Germany, Greece, Thailand, and the United Kingdom.
Her research focuses on Latin American and historically marginalized and underrepresented music and composers. In 2019, she founded the RefleXions Music Series, a musical gathering and education initiative designed to foster plurality in the arts. She writes and hosts Sound Perimeter, a standalone podcast exploring diverse voices and perspectives in music, in collaboration with KUAF, the NPR affiliate in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
She holds a bachelor’s in bassoon performance from the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, a master’s and doctorate in bassoon performance from the University of Arkansas and the University of Kansas, respectively, and an MBA in Arts Innovation through the Global Leaders Institute, a program curated and certified by Harvard University, Duke University, Georgetown University, McGill University, New York University, and Bard College.
Uribe has served on the boards of the Walton Arts Center and the Creative Arkansas Community Hub and Exchange, and as the University of Arkansas’s liaison to the CACHE-Northwest Arkansas Municipal Arts Alliance. She is a facilitator for the Mid-America Arts Alliance Artist INC professional development program.
School of Music
The School of Music offers comprehensive undergraduate and graduate programs in performance, music education, composition, conducting, musicology, music theory, and arts leadership. The school is one of the nation’s leading music programs, with approximately 60 faculty members, 300 undergraduate music majors, and 130 master’s and doctoral students. It is an all-Steinway School with multiple performance spaces, a recording studio, and a Yamaha digital keyboard lab. Recent faculty accolades include Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence at the New York Philharmonic Orchestra, Sudler Award for the Pride of Arizona Marching Band, and Symphonic Choir’s performance for the National Collegiate Choral Organization. School of Music website.