A 25-year-old Chinese soprano on Sunday won the top prize in opera at the 27th International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition here.

Guanqun Yu, who graduated from the Shandong Institute of Arts in 2005 and enrolled in the Shanghai Conservatory of Music (SHCM) in 2006, has studied under Professor Zhou Xiaoyan at the SHCM and has starred in quite a few operas such as "The Magic Flute" and "Rigoletto".

Yu has also been taught by world renowned artists such as Carlo Bergorzi and Renee Fleming and won praise from them for her singing skills.

The International Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition is one of the most prestigious and largest singing competitions in the world.

About 3000 singers participated in the qualifying competition this year. Only 159 singers from 42 countries including Russia, South Korea, the United States and Germany qualified for the final competition.

The operetta prize went to Irish singer Naomi O'Connell and the audience award went to Lithuanian bass-baritone Igor Bakan.

(Xinhua News Agency July 8, 2008)