He has participated in masterclasses at prominent festivals with distinguished conductors, such as Bernard Haitink at the Lucerne Easter Festival, Paavo Järvi at the Pärnu Music Festival, Marin Alsop and Cristian Măcelaru at the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music, and Stefan Asbury at the Tanglewood Music Festival. He was twice invited to conducting masterclasses with Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra where he received guidance from Osmo Vänskä, Markus Stenz and Thierry Fischer, and was also named an inaugural Mahler Conducting Fellow for the Colorado MahlerFest XXIX.

Currently based in Singapore, Dr Lien received his doctorate in orchestral conducting at the Eastman School of Music where his mentors include Neil Varon, Brad Lubman, and Mark Scatterday. He holds conducting and performance degrees from the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music and Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music, with additional studies at the Peabody Conservatory of Music. 

Outside of his formal training, he has also actively participated in masterclasses with Heinz Holliger, Hannu Lintu, Nicolás Pasquet, Johannes Schaefli, Mark Stringer and had the opportunity on those occasions to work with eminent orchestras around the world, including the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Festival Strings Lucerne, MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra, Moscow Philharmonic Orchestra, Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, among others.