Mio Imai, age 15, studies violin with Midori Goto and Kimberly Fisher. She is also coached by Grammy-nominated pianist, Mark Livshits. Mio made her first appearance as a soloist at age of 9. She has performed as a soloist with multiple orchestras, including Nashville Symphony Orchestra, Allentown Symphony Orchestra, Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, Mid-Atlantic Symphony Orchestra, Vancouver Symphony Orchestra USA, FVG Orchestra, Accademia d’Archi Arrigoni Orchestra, and SEEN Orchestra. She won the 1st prize at recent international competitions, such as Arthur Grumiaux International Violin Competition (Belgium), Stulberg International String Competition (US), International Young Artist Concerto Competition (US), Piccolo Violino Magico International Competition (Italy), Nashville Symphony Curb Concerto Competition (US), and MTNA National Competition (US). Mio is also a former major prize winner at Leonid Kogan International Competition (Belgium), Ronald Sachs International Music Competition (US), Johansen International Competition (US), Elizabeth Loker International Concerto Competition (US), and Chicago Violin International Competition (US). She has played in Masterclasses for renowned violinists and string quartets, including James Ehnes, Ida Kavafian, Karen Aroutiounian, Takacs Quartet, Paul Kantor, Sibbi Bernhardsson, and Robert Chen. Mio plays a Vincenzo Sannino violin and Francois Nicolas Voirin bow on loan from the Takeuchi Collection through the Nippon Violin Society program.