Bio
Xiaotian Liu writes songs and stories that stay close to the inner life—its quiet longings, unruly feelings, playful leaps, and fleeting moments that are often difficult to name.
Her songs often begin with something small: a melodic motif, a line of words, an unusual rhythm, or a feeling asking to be followed. Drawing from her background in piano, voice, songwriting, and recording, she allows each piece to find its own shape. She hopes her work offers listeners a place to pause, feel, and meet a deeper part of themselves.
Xiaotian studied music therapy at the University of Kansas and later worked as a music therapist in hospice and palliative care. Being present with people near the end of life deeply shaped her understanding of music—as a way of listening, connecting, remembering, and giving form to what words alone cannot hold. She later studied Creative Inquiry at the California Institute of Integral Studies and developed Songift, a collaborative songwriting practice through which she helps others explore their inner worlds and bring a song into being.
She is currently writing stories, teaching piano, and preparing a series of songs for independent release. She lives and creates in Victoria, British Columbia.
Songift
Songift is a collaborative practice bringing together therapeutic exploration and songwriting. Through conversation, free writing, imagery, sound, melody, and other forms of creative expression, you are invited to enter your inner world—to notice, feel, and stay curious about what unfolds.
Within the songwriting process, images, memories, emotions, and musical fragments emerge, move, reshape one another, and transform. The finished song holds and gives form to the journey—an encapsulation of what has been felt, discovered, and created along the way.
Learn about the process, listen to previous Songift collaborations, or get in touch for an initial conversation through the SONGIFT page.
Piano lessons
Xiaotian offers one-on-one online piano lessons for teens and adults, whether you are beginning for the first time or returning to something you once loved.
Her teaching focuses on building a solid musical foundation while nurturing an intimate, enlivening relationship with music. Lessons invite you to cultivate your unique musicianship, explore different ways to enter and interact with music, and connect more deeply with yourself through playing.
Practice is shaped around the life you actually have. Together, you will find flexible and sustainable ways to keep music present— within a busy schedule and without the pressure to be perfect.
Learn more about piano lessons or get in touch to arrange a trial lesson through the Piano page.
Talks, Interviews, Projects
The Coming Days - trailer (a documentary featuring Xiaotian’s hospice music therapy work)
你有心事吗？和我一起写歌吧 podcast episode 1, episode 2. (@ 她请你听She Sounds by Cottonseed)
The Sound of Fear (project for Mission at Tenth, an inter-arts journal)
Overture for Closure: Hospice Music Therapy (MFA interview @ CIIS)
BottleDream (interview)
人物 People (China) (interview)
嘉人 maire claire (China) (interview)
鸣镝访谈录 (interview)