Dr. Jian Liu is an internationally celebrated concert pianist, chamber musician, and educator who has performed extensively throughout Europe, Asia, and North America. His artistry has brought him to some of the world’s most prestigious concert venues, including Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and Steinway Hall in New York; Sprague Hall and Woolsey Hall at Yale University; and Paul Hall at the Juilliard School. He has appeared as a featured soloist with leading orchestras such as the Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic Society of Ukraine, China National Symphony Orchestra, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra, Orchestra Wellington, Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, and the Yale Philharmonia, among others.

A passionate champion of New Zealand music, Dr. Liu has premiered and recorded numerous works by New Zealand composers. In 2021, his New Zealand Piano Works publication project received a Creative New Zealand Arts Grant, and its subsequent companion album earned him the Best Classical Artist award at the 2025 Aotearoa Music Awards.

Dr. Liu has garnered numerous prizes in international competitions, including the Horowitz International Piano Competition (Ukraine) and the Missouri Southern International Piano Competition (USA). He has performed at festivals in Auckland (New Zealand), Idyllwild (USA), Beijing and Shanghai (China), Lausanne (Switzerland), and Krakow (Poland). His performances have been broadcast by major radio and television networks, including KPHO Public Radio (USA), CCTV (China), Suisse Romande Radio (Switzerland), Krakow Radio (Poland), Kan Radio (Israel), and Radio New Zealand. He has also served as an adjudicator for several international music competitions.

An enthusiastic chamber musician, Dr. Liu collaborates frequently with members of the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and regularly appears at music festivals around New Zealand. He is the founding pianist of the Te Kōkī Trio, the resident ensemble at the New Zealand School of Music, which has performed in chamber music series across Singapore, China, Australia, and New Zealand. His international collaborations include performances with the Takács Quartet, violinist Anthony Marwood, cellist Jian Wang, clarinettist David Shifrin, flutist Ransom Wilson, horn player Ben Goldscheider, and pianists Boris Berman, Claude Frank, and Maria João Pires.

Equally devoted to performance and education, Dr. Liu previously served on the faculty of the Yale Department of Music for four years. He is currently Acting Head of School and Head of Piano Studies at the New Zealand School of Music—Te Kōkī, Victoria University of Wellington, where he has established a reputation as an outstanding pedagogue and overseen the development of the performance curriculum. His students have won prizes at prestigious competitions such as the Zhuhai International Mozart Competition for Young Musicians and the Shenzhen International Piano Concerto Competition (China), the Indonesia Pusaka Piano Competition (Indonesia), and the National Concerto Competition and Lewis Eady National Piano Competition (New Zealand). He has also given masterclasses and lectures at institutions including the Central Conservatory of Music and Tianjin Conservatory of Music (China), Jerusalem Academy of Music and Dance (Israel), Rutgers University, Manhattan School of Music, Wellesley College, and Arizona State University (USA), Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music (Singapore), Krakow Academy of Music (Poland), and Sydney Conservatorium of Music (Australia).

Dr. Liu studied with Professor Jin Zhang in China and Dr. Caio Pagano in the United States. He completed his Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees at the Yale School of Music, where he was a student and assistant of the legendary pianist Professor Claude Frank.