She was born in Shanghai, and studied piano with her father as a child in Hangzhou.
She graduated in composition from the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, where she studied with Ding Shande, Sang Tong and Den Erjing.
[2] After completing her studies, Liu taught music at the Shanghai Conservatory and then moved to Beijing, where she taught at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing.
She also served as composer for the Central Philharmonic Society of Beijing.
From 1989 to 2003, she was scholar-in-residence and music teacher at Syracuse University.