He was the son of ballerina and choreographer Vera Zorina (née Eva Brigitta Hartwig) and Goddard Lieberson, president of Columbia Records.
At their teacher's request, the Liebersons moved from Boulder to Boston, Massachusetts, to co-direct Shambhala Training, a meditation and cultural program.
The Neruda Songs, a cycle of songs set to love poems by Pablo Neruda, were co-commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony; the world premiere was given on 20 May 2005, by the Los Angeles Philharmonic with Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting and Hunt Lieberson as soloist.
[7] In December 2007, Lieberson won the 2008 University of Louisville Grawemeyer Award for Music Composition for Neruda Songs.
When he returned to the work, it was no longer simply a memorial and farewell to Hunt Lieberson, but also reflected the influence of his daughters and his third wife, Rinchen Lhamo.