He has also been the dean of the College of Music and the director of the Graduate Institute of Ethnomusicology at National Taiwan Normal University.
[1] Chien began his undergraduate studies in the Department of Music at National Taiwan Normal University in 1972.
He studied vocal music under Tai Su-lun (戴序倫) and Tseng Shiou-ling (鄭秀玲) and composition under Liu Te-yi (劉德義).
He studied choral conducting under Joseph P. Huszti, composition under Peter S. Odegard, and vocal music under Mahlon Schanzenbach.
Chien has been the chairman of the Department of Music and the director of the Graduate Institute of Ethnomusicology at National Taiwan Normal University.