Mel Hsu sits at the center of the stage wearing a denim blue jumpsuit and a smile, surrounded by pools of warm amber light that spill from the vintage-looking lamps scattered around her. The concert hall is filled with the soft strums of guitar, and a warm chorus of voices wafts in the air, humming the tune to Priscilla Ahn’s “Dream.”
Hsu has described herself as “a sonic painter of impossible worlds.” Known for her techniques that break conventional barriers, Hsu’s concert in Swarthmore College’s Lang Music Hall took the audience on a journey into the world of modern music. As displayed in her ethereal performance of “Dream,” Hsu possesses the unique ability to pull listeners into the “impossible worlds” she creates. When the song reached its halfway point, Hsu showed the audience how to join in before inviting them to sing along. The same chords circled over and over, and the audience members sang in scattered pockets; yet, for a brief moment, they all seemed to drift together into the same dreamlike state. Dedicated to “the spirit of nostalgia,” Hsu says, this Friday at Six performance is both a delicate remembrance of her early years as a musician and that of Swarthmore itself.
Before becoming the multi-instrumentalist she is today, Hsu was a classical cellist. It wasn’t long before she developed a close relationship with her instrument, which she even christened “Charles.” In addition to writing songs on the cello, Hsu attempted to join her school’s jazz band — a proposal that her band director denied due to the cello’s traditional status as a classical instrument. Determined to challenge these beliefs, Hsu dedicated herself to bringing out the true versatility of her stringed friend. In fact, her opening performance of “Baby Blue” is a fitting example of the cello’s ability to transgress beyond classical music. The song began with mellow plucks that I assumed could only come from a guitar. As I glanced towards the stage, however, I was surprised to discover Hsu’s guitar still sitting beside her. Turns out, Charles has an incredible vocal range.
But even given Charles’s vocal prowess, Hsu could not be tied down to one instrument. The guitar became another of her early musical companions, a relationship sparked by a small crush on a guitarist back in high school. In the programming of tonight’s showlist, Hsu performed one of the first songs she had learned on the guitar: “A Tale as Old as Time” from “Beauty and the Beast” (1991). Over time, she even ventured to learn other instruments, including the piano and the bass.
From there, Hsu reoriented her talk back to the very room she sat in: Swarthmore’s Lang Concert Hall. During her middle and high school years, she would frequently come to the college to visit her sister Stephanie (’09). The campus quickly became her second home, giving Hsu the opportunity to continue exploring and developing her passion for music. She fondly remembers attending her first rock concert in Upper Tarble, as well as spending countless hours practicing Rachmaninoff with her sister on Lang Hall’s grand pianos. Hsu’s love for her sister was clear throughout the performance: after sliding her phone under the piano to record the rest of the performance, she invited the audience to join her in creating a recording of “Happy Birthday” dedicated to Stephanie.
For Hsu, music is her medium for connecting with others, past and present. She recounts singing Priscilla Ahn’s “Dream” to comfort her grandmother during her final moments. Likewise, Hsu discovered that her late grandfather also loved music after uncovering his collection of old vinyl records. Before this revelation, she joked that their only connection was a shared love for eggs: “I liked the egg whites, and he liked the egg yolks.” Yet, these old records proved her wrong. Through them, Hsu explained, she unlocked “a portal” into her own childhood.
Since then, she began revisiting the records often, finding comfort in listening to the albums she found. One day, however, her earbuds suddenly malfunctioned. What would have been an annoyance for many turned into inspiration for Hsu, who used the distorted sounds to create new music that was contemporary in shape, vintage in soul.
When asked about her creative process, Hsu stated that she envisions her finished works as watercolor paintings “with the colors all mushed together.” Drawing inspiration from pop songs and French impressionist music, her musicianship is deeply expressive, and she renders each syllable meaningful with emotion and long-forgotten feelings. She also mentioned using sound to paint grief, as words often aren’t adequate enough to express the magnitude of one’s sadness.
Outside the music realm, Hsu is both an educator and advocate. She has co-directed the Girls Rock Philly initiative, as well as Philadelphia’s No Arena Flash Chorus. Audience members from her performance were also able to take home a beautiful poster with the words “废除 ABOLISH ICE” printed on a fire horse (the zodiac sign for 2026).
From earbud-glitch remixes to manipulating classical instruments, Hsu’s imagination truly knows no bounds and merits her recognition in West Philly, New York City, and beyond. Her unique take on life is best summarized by her closing remark to the audience: “I’m a growing turtle!” As a devout changemaker, Hsu continues to place evolution at the forefront of her work in education, advocacy, and music-making. Yet, she never hesitates to retrace the path that shaped her into the person she is today — a path that was once illuminated by the streetlights of Swarthmore itself.
