Magdalen Hsu-li, a pioneering Asian-American woman in music, headlines West Virginia University’s 23rd annual Women of Color Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20 in the Mountainlair Ballrooms.

Hsu-li is one of the first openly bisexual Chinese-American singer-songwriters in the U.S. and is an emerging star in the acoustic/pop/folk/alternative genres. In addition to her appearance at the luncheon, she will perform at 8:15 p.m. at the Creative Arts Center’s Bloch Hall.

Tickets for the luncheon (order deadline Oct. 15) are $15 for students and $27.50 for non-students. To order tickets, visit http://www.as.wvu.edu/cwc/woc.htm and download the Ticket Order Form. Tickets purchased for the luncheon also include the evening performance. Tickets for the musical performance are $5 and can be purchased in B1 Stewart Hall (Social Justice Office), the Center for Women’s Studies Office, or at the door the night of the performance. The musical performance is sponsored by the Council for Women’s Concerns, the Center for Women’s Studies and the Division of Music.

Each year during Diversity Week, women and friends of WVU come together to celebrate their differences and find common ground at the annual Women of Color Luncheon. The event is co-sponsored by the WVU Council for Women’s Concerns and the President’s Office for Social Justice.

Magdalen, whose songs are gaining a following on alternative college playlists, will not only provide a motivational speech on diversity, but display her musical experience.

“We needed someone who was an entertainer as well as a motivational speaker,” said Toni Morris, Women of Color committee chair. “Magdalen falls into both categories perfectly. Her message includes raising diversity awareness in ourselves and in our community.”

The luncheon celebrates learning about women of color and issues they have encountered.

“Because of the limited time available during the luncheon, we added an evening performance so that the WVU and Morgantown communities would not miss the opportunity to hear beautiful and poignant music,” Morris said. “At one performance, students were dancing in the aisles at a packed house; we don’t want our community to miss out on such a diverse, dynamic and inspiring event.”

Magdalen began her artistic life as a painter and visual artist, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in painting from the Rhode Island School of Design. She received the coveted Oxbow Fellowship, Talbot Rantoul Scholarship and Florence Leif Scholarship for Excellence in Painting.

In 1992, she migrated to Seattle and became immersed in the legendary music scene. She began her study of jazz and classical music at Cornish College of the Arts and was the recipient of the 1995 Cornish Music Scholarship. In 1997, she founded Chickpop Records. That same year she founded Femme Vitale, The Seattle Women’s Music and Arts Coalition, a women’s arts advocacy organization that won a Special Projects Grant from the King County Arts Commission. Femme Vitale hosted numerous educational workshops, festivals, arts exhibitions, and performance events around Seattle, King County and the West Coast throughout 1996-97.

Magdalen was nominated for a GLAMA (Gay and Lesbian American Music Award) for “Best Out Song” for “Monkeygirl,” the single from her critically acclaimed 1998 release Evolution.

Magdalen was raised in one of the only Asian families in Martinsville, Va. and battled and eventually conquered Tourette’s syndrome. She recalls how hard it was growing up.

“There were cows, cornfields, Ku Klux Klan marches, and preppy debutantes and no Asians anywhere,” she said. “To top it off, I had Tourettes which immediately set me apart from others, and I was experiencing racism and bigotry on a daily basis at school. I didn’t even know that I was an artist. I found solace and an understanding of who I was by listing to Peter Gabriel’s music. It was through music and art that I began to shape my true identity and learn to accept myself for being different.”

WVU

10/04/10

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CONTACT:
Vickie Trickett
(304) 293-7804