Juniper Hill was born in Seattle and grew up in California. She studied Music and Latin American Studies at Wesleyan University and then Ethnomusicology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She also received her doctorate there. Her research has been supported by a Marie Curie Intra-European Research Fellowship (2012/13), two Fulbright Fellowships (2011, 2002/03) and a research grant from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2007-2008).

Her academic career has taken her to University College Cork, the University of California and Pomona College. Her research collaborations have included the University of Cambridge, the University of Cape Town, the Sibelius Academy, the University of Bamberg and the University of San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador.