Meet the Artists: The Fenimore String Quartet

Don't miss these fantastic musicians on August 7!

Violinist Ruotao Mao is an active soloist, chamber musician and the concertmaster of the Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra. His playing was described by The Classical New Jersey as "virtuoso display of world-class magnitude." and "the level of playing has reached far beyond mere technical competence." A native of Beijing, China, Mr. Mao graduated from the New England Conservatory of Music with "distinction in performance" award. He earned his Master 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 and Alice Tully Hall of Lincoln Center and also the highly acclaimed Amabile String Quartet, the quartet-in-residence at Rutgers University (2000 and 2001). As a soloist, he appeared with orchestras such as the Jupiter Symphony, NEC Symphony, Corelliard Chamber Orchestra, the Brunswick Symphony Orchestra, Riverside Symphonia, Edison Symphony, the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, Bay-Atlantic Symphony, Arcadian Symphony Orchestra and Rutgers University Orchestra among many others. In 2004, Mr. Mao premiered a violin concerto by Ernie Stires in Stern Auditorium of Carnegie Hall. He had performance tours in Korea and Colombia, South America. He performed on WNYC, WETS and WDVR-FM broadcasts and is a recording artist for the CRI and Beijing Broadcast Labels. Mr. Mao also serves as the concertmaster of the Delaware Valley Philharmonic Orchestra, Riverside Symphonia, the Bay-Atlantic Symphony and Edison Symphony Orchestra. In 2002, Mr. Mao was appointed as violin and viola faculty at The College of New Jersey.

Sue Rabut studied violin with Roman Totenberg in the undergraduate program at Boston University's School for the Arts. She freelanced in Boston and played with Sarah Caldwell's Opera Company of Boston, Virginia Opera, Des Moines Opera and Boris Goldovsky's touring opera orchestra. Sue was chosen by audition to be a violinist in the Apple Hill Chamber Players, a nationally touring chamber group based in New Hampshire which also runs a summer institute for chamber music, coaching intergenerational groups of students. Following her five-year tenure with Apple Hill, she returned to Boston for an appointment as second violinist with the Boston Composers String Quartet, which specialized in contemporary music and brought a six-chapter music history curriculum into the public schools. That quartet was disbanded in 1997 when two members began families, which prompted a return for her to freelancing in Boston. Sue was concertmaster of Opera North in New Hampshire for seven years, and has been a regular member of the New Hampshire, Vermont and Springfield Symphonies, and the Boston Pops Esplanade orchestra, as well as a substitute with the Boston Symphony at Tanglewood. Ms. Rabut joined the Glimmerglass Opera in 1992, winning the position of Principal Second Violin in 1993, in which capacity she served until 1996. After an eight-year hiatus, she re-auditioned in 2005 and rejoined the Glimmerglass violin section, where she has served as Acting Associate Concertmaster for the last two seasons. Ms. Rabut is a member of Boston's Lyric Opera, Opera Boston, and Boston Classical Orchestra. She plays period violin with Cecelia Society, Boston Baroque and Handel and Haydn Society, in which group she also holds a position as assistant to the Education director. She teaches violin privately in Boston, where she resides with her ten-year-old daughter.

Dee Dee Fancher is a native of the Chicago area. She has been playing the viola for over forty years, and has been a section violist with the San Antonio Symphony for twenty of those years. Prior to joining the San Antonio Symphony, Ms. Fancher spent four years as Assistant Principal Violist of the Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra. She has been a member of Glimmerglass Festival Orchestra for seventeen years, and has been a participant in music festivals and tours in the United States and abroad. She studied viola with Roland Vamos at Western Illinois University, and has coached with William Lincer, Burton Kaplan, Ellen Rose, and Wayne Brooks among others. In addition, she is committed to teaching music to children, and hopes to build a private viola studio in Columbus, Ohio where she now resides with her husband Mark Rubinstein.

Ruth Berry is a cellist, music educator, artistic director and administrator. She gives recitals of popular classics with Duo Intermezzo, is a member of the Magellan String Quartet, is Artistic Director and co-founder of the musician-run chamber orchestra, Lyra Vivace, and manages a unique musician booking service, In Praise of Music. Ruth serves as Artistic Advisor with the Augusta Opera (where she also performs as principal cello), and on the Executive Committee of the Columbia County Orchestra Association Board of Directors. During the summers, she performs with Glimmerglass Opera, where she specializes in solo continuo work for 17th- and 18th-century repertoire. Ruth performs on a cello made by Max Frirsz in 1982, and on a baroque cello made by Alexandro Donaldi in 1992. Ruth has taught cello, music theory and music appreciation at Georgia Southern University during the 18-year faculty residency of the Magellan String Quartet. She has taught at Mansfield University, did research for the New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, and wrote program notes for Encore. Ruth has performed in masterclasses for Yo Yo Ma and Janos Starker, held several principal cello positions (including 16 years as Principal Cello of the Augusta Symphony) and has recorded on the Spectrum and Nonesuch labels. She has worked as education director and grants administrator with the Greenville (SC) Symphony, and has worked as orchestra personnel manager for the Glimmerglass Opera Orchestra and the Binghamton Philharmonic. A native of upstate New York, Ruth is the proud owner of the historic Catlin Memorial Library in Springfield Center, NY.