Juan Liu

Juan Liu is a self-funded PhD candidate in music at the University of Cambridge, where she also completed her MPhil in 2019, both under the supervision of Professor Marina Frolova-Walker. Her doctoral research explores the intersection of music and politics in 20th-century Sino-Soviet relations. Her research papers have been accepted/presented at conferences, including the 2021 IMS Regional Association for East Asia (IMSEA), the 2019 IMS Study Group ‘Music and Media’ (MaM) in Sweden, and the 2019 University of Oxford China Humanities Graduate Conference.

Before Cambridge, Liu studied at the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Shanghai Conservatory of Music, both on full scholarships. Prior to her PhD, she worked at the Advanced Innovation Center at China Conservatory of Music in Beijing, contributing to initiatives such as the Global Music Education League (2019). She also worked for Academy Award-winning composer Tan Dun, assisting with event organisation and publicity, including the 2016 Lunar Exploration Charity Concert at the Great Hall of the People.

Dedicated to bridging linguistic and cultural gaps in music scholarship, Liu has over a decade of experience as a translator/interpreter in the field. She is under contract with multiple publishing houses for book translations, including Jonathan Cross’s Igor Stravinsky (forthcoming, 2025) for Reaktion Books’ Critical Lives series. Her previous translation work includes Cheong Wai-ling’s article 'Reading Schoenberg, Hindemith, and Kurth in Sang Tong: Modernist Harmonic Approaches in China' “对话勋伯格、欣德米特与库赫特：桑桐和声理论研究，兼论德奥和声理论在中国的传播与发展在改革开放时代的中国” (Art of Music《音乐艺术》, 2017), though her translation credit was unfortunately omitted. She has also led interpreter/translator teams for major academic conferences in Beijing, Shanghai, and Xi’an, and she has worked as a translator/interpreter with leading scholars such as Marina Frolova-Walker, John Roeder, and David Trippett, as well as composers like Elmar Lampson and Brian Lock, performers such as Johannes Pramsohler, Aleck Karis, and Thomas Lanners, conductor André de Quadros, and Gabriel Teschner from Sikorski Music Publishers.

Beyond academia, Liu actively engages with the public to promote understanding of music. She has authored programme notes for Tencent Music Entertainment Group – China’s leading digital music platform – as well as for major concert venues and festivals, including Shanghai Spring International Music Festival, Shanghai Symphony Orchestra Hall, and Poly Theatre in Shanghai.