The 11th Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music opened in concert halls across Guangzhou on Nov 20 and will last for duration of one week.

Two hundred and fifty five contestants will battle it out in 43 contests to win the 20 Chinese Golden Bell Awards that are up for grab this week, which consist of awards for five pianists, five chinese zither players, five bel canto singers, and five folk singers.

The opening ceremony of the 11th Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music is held in Guangzhou on Nov 20. [Photo/southcn.com] 

The Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music, established in 2001, is a national level art award on par with the highest theatrical Plum Blossom Award, Golden Rooster Award for movies and the Golden Eagle Awards for TV.

This year's event was held by China Federation of Literary and Art Circles, China Musicians Association, the CPC Guangzhou Municipal Committee and the People's Government of Guangzhou Municipality.

Famous singer Yan Weiwen sings at the opening ceremony for the 11th Chinese Golden Bell Award for Music competition. [Photo/southcn.com]

The opening ceremony featured songs sung by renowned singers Yan Weiwen, Wu Bixia and Yuan Chenye, piano solo by famous pianist Wei Danwen and a performance by Guangzhou Symphony Orchestra.

The competition venues are Guangzhou Opera House, Guangdong Xinghai Concert Hall, and the Music Hall of South China Normal University. All events are open to the public at low prices. Please refer to http://www.t3.com.cn for ticket bookings.

Huang Ying, a world-famous Chinese soprano, sings with passion at the opening ceremony. [Photo/southcn.com]