Janet Briggs

When walking through Studzinski Recital Hall, you might just be lucky enough to overhear Brian Liu ’25 fine-tuning a concerto before he heads off to the computer science lab or the McKeen Center.

A double major in computer science and mathematics, as well as a practiced pianist, Liu embodies the liberal arts through his multifaceted exploration of each subject.

“It feels like a symbiotic process,” Liu said. “I decided to come to Bowdoin because I wanted to be able to spend ten minutes playing piano, and then walk out of the hall and then write a bit for my projects or do some research or help out at the McKeen Center. These things all kind of require different tool sets and tool kits in your brain. And so it always kept everything fresh for me to have a lot of different things.”

Recently awarded the prestigious Watson Fellowship, Liu plans to continue his work in both the sciences and music after graduation. The fellowship, which will take him to Germany, Peru, Chile and Denmark, will allow Liu to fuse his lifelong passion and talent for music with his interests in technology and culture. His project, titled “Sonic Bridges: Amplifying Voices and Building Community,” will explore how technology and artistry intersect and amplify regional culture.

Liu began playing the piano at the age of six and performing at the age of eight. During his adolescence, he began composing original works. Liu explains that these works are more for his own enjoyment than public reception.

“I’ve always been composing music for myself. I actually don’t really publish any of my compositions, but music is always in my head,” Liu said. “I always tell my friends that sometimes I really just cannot sleep for a couple of hours, because there’s just too much music that’s flowing in my head.… If you’re [in Studzinski Hall] at night and you walk around, you may hear the piano, and sometimes that’s just me improvising.”

As the senior nears the end of his time at Bowdoin, he will perform his own interpretation of Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 3 at an upcoming Bowdoin Symphony Orchestra performance. Practicing throughout his final semester, Liu has been guided by George Lopez, director of the Bowdoin Orchestra.

“I’ve always wanted to play the piece since I was six, and I was amazed. If you don’t know this concerto, it’s considered one of the hallmarks of a piano player. I just always want to play the piece. It’s really beautiful,” Liu said.

He explained that his process for developing, practicing and performing his interpretation of a concerto is all about the details. Focusing on the experience of the audience, he crafts the individual sounds that create his cathartic performances.

“There’s this interpretation that I really want to put out, and that requires a lot of practice on the piano,” Lui said. “To me, it means that you truly understand, when you’re touching the key, how far down the key goes, the sound it makes—how is it resonating across the hall? If a person were sitting here and I was playing there, what would it sound like and can I imagine that from the bench that I’m sitting on there? And that helps me develop different sections in the piece.”

This performance is just one of the things Liu is looking forward to in the upcoming months.

“One thing I’m excited about next year is to actually have a bit more time to compose and to write,” Lui said. “As I’m in my last semester, I want to finish a lot of research projects that I’m interested in, and so that’s taking up a lot of time, but I’m excited next year to have a lot of time to reflect and write and spend time on the piano.”