Biography

Jeremy Liu was born in Taiwan. At age six, he started piano lessons. Four years later, he began to study violin; the violin lessons, however, lasted only for a year. At age twelve, his music education was put on hold, which was not uncommon for a child growing up in Taiwan in the 1980s -- academic excellence was always a top priority. In 1995, Liu received a bachelor's degree in computer engineering, which prompted his pursuit of a master's degree in the United States. He received a master's degree, also in computer engineering, from University of California, Davis in 1999.

In his college years, Liu took an interest in Jazz piano music. He would make piano arrangements for pop songs, but the music was never written down. Determined to further his music education in the United States, he read books on Jazz piano and theories, attended a few classes from Mark Levine in The Jazzschool in Berkeley, California, and went to Stanford Jazz Workshop in August 2001. During the workshop, Liu realized that spontaneity, which is essential for a Jazz pianist, was not his strong point. He then turned to music composition.

In 2004, Liu enrolled in several courses from Foothill College, including the three-quarter course "Music Theory, Literature and Composition" instructed by Dr. Paul Davies. At the end of the course, he was awarded a certificate of excellence in music, which encouraged him in further studying music composition. Liu studied composition privately for two years with Jorge Liderman, who was a professor in University of California, Berkeley before his death in 2008.