Elizabeth Oakes, violist, is a devoted chamber musician and pedagogue. Currently Ms. Oakes serves as the director of the String Quartet Residency Program and also runs the Chamber Music Residency Program at the University of Iowa. For twenty-two years, Ms. Oakes was the violist of the Maia Quartet and as a member of the Quartet, she performed throughout the United States, Asia, Canada, and Europe and concertized in major venues including Alice Tully Hall, Merkin Hall, the 92nd Street Y and Washington DC’s Kennedy Center.

Ms. Oakes programming and interdisciplinary interests have led her to direct and program many large-scale projects. In 1997, Ms. Oakes co-founded and then subsequently served for nine years as a co-artistic director of the Foothills Music Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. During her tenure at the University of Iowa, Ms. Oakes has coordinated several large events, including Scandinavian/NordicFest—a month-long interdisciplinary chamber music festival that included film, theater, dance, lectures, recitals and outreach. At the University of Iowa, Ms. Oakes has received repeated recognition for her work including the Dean’s Distinguished Lecturer Award and the President & Provost Award for Teaching Excellence. In 2022, she was awarded the Dean’s Distinguished Lecturer award in the College of Liberal Arts upon her promotion to full professor. Ms. Oakes also currently serves at the Program Director for the Green Lake Festival of Music Chamber Music Institute in Wisconsin.