Concertmaster and violinist Ruotao Mao, a native of Beijing, China, graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with a "distinction in performance" award. He earned his Master’s Degree in Music from the Mason Gross School of the Arts where he studied under violinist Arnold Sternhardt of the Guarneri String Quartet. He also studied with Dorothy Delay, Paul Kantor, and Masuko Ushioda. As a chamber musician, he is one of the founding members of the former Beijing Piano Quartet, winner of "Artists International Chamber Music Series" with appearances in Weill Hall of Carnegie Hall, Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center, and he has performed with the highly acclaimed Amabile String Quartet, the quartet-in-residence at Rutgers University (2000 and 2001). As a soloist, he has appeared with orchestras such as the Jupiter Symphony, NEC Symphony, Corelliard Chamber Orchestra, the Brunswick Symphony Orchestra, Edison Symphony, the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and Rutgers University Orchestra among many others. Mr. Mao has had performance tours in Korea and Colombia, South America. He performed on WNYC broadcasts and is a recording artist for the CRI and Beijing Broadcast Labels. Mr. Mao also serves as concertmaster of the Riverside Symphonia and as the concertmaster of the Delaware Valley Philharmonic Orchestra, the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra and Edison Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Mao also serves on the faculty at The College of New Jersey.