Serebrier was born in Montevideo to Russian and Polish parents. He first conducted an orchestra at the age of eleven, while at school. The school orchestra toured the country, which meant he was able to notch up over one hundred performances within four years. He graduated from the Municipal School of Music in Montevideo at fifteen, having studied violin, solfege, and Latin American folklore. The National Orchestra, known as SODRE, announced a composition contest. Within two weeks, Serebrier had composed his "Legend of Faust" overture. It won. To his huge disappointment he was not allowed to conduct it, because he was only fifteen. The premiere was given to Eleazar de Carvalho, who later that same year became his conducting teacher at Tanglewood, the Boston Symphony Orchestra's summer home.

He was awarded a United States State Department Fellowship to study at the Curtis Institute of Music, with Vittorio Giannini. Later he studied with Aaron Copland at Tanglewood, and with Pierre Monteux. His first symphony, written at the age of 17, was premiered by Leopold Stokowski, as the last minute substitute for the Ives Fourth Symphony, which proved still unplayable at the time. The recording of that Stokowski performance was recently released on CD. Another recording of this work was recently released by Naxos, with the composer conducting the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra.