Magdalen Hsu-Li

Magdalen Hsu-Li (born Rochelle Li on 1 January 1970 ) is an American singer-songwriter, painter, speaker, poet, and activist. She identifies herself as bisexual and as Chinese American.

Biography
Born in 1970 in the southern Virginia city of Martinsville to Chinese immigrant parents, Hsu-Li began piano lessons at age 8 but found an interest in painting instead. She attended college at the Rhode Island School of Design on a scholarship and a fellowship. After her graduation in 1992 and moved to Seattle, Washington and matriculated at the Cornish College of the Arts, where she resumed her study of music. She studied classical music and jazz and won a scholarship in 1995. She began public performances in 1996 and released her first album on her own Chickpop Records label in 1997.

Music
Hsu-Li's music can be considered derivative of alternative rock, pop, folk, and jazz and is described as having "vocals comparable to Tori Amos and Alanis Morissette and music at times reminiscent of Ani DiFranco’s solo albums and other times of percussion-driven Rusted Root." Hsu-Li herself describes her music as "pop rock alt folk singer songwriter music with a tinge of country, jazz, and punk." She is a multi-instrumentalist and writes most of her songs while she co-produces her albums with her boyfriend, Dale Fanning.

Discography

 * Muscle and Bone (1997)
 * Evolution (1998)
 * Fire (2001)
 * Smashing the Ceiling (2005)