- The World Guzheng Competition 2023, organized by the Asian Art Association Singapore, is a professional Chinese music competition for the guzheng category and is open to participants from all over the world. Entries should be performed on the guzheng, and are open to guzheng enthusiasts and professional guzheng performers from all over the world.

· The competition is grouped according to age and professional level, and is divided into Amateur Preschool Group (6 years old or under), Amateur Children Group A (7-9 years old), Amateur Children Group B (10-12 years old), Amateur Teenager Group A (13-15 years old), Amateur Teenager Group B (16 and 17 years old), Amateur Youth Group (18-44 years old), Amateur Middle-aged and Senior Group (over 45 years old), Professional Platinum Group (25 years old and above), Professional Youth A (18 - 35 years old),Professional Youth B (18 - 35 years old), Professional Teenager Group (17 years old or under), Professional Ensemble Group (No Age Limit).

· Contestants cannot participate in more than one solo group, but can participate in both solo and ensemble groups. The same participant can participate in more than one ensemble group. No more than 20 players in the ensemble group.

- The Professional Group is for students studying in art colleges and practitioners working in guzheng art, and amateur guzheng enthusiasts can also challenge the Professional Group.

- The entry requirements for each group of the professional division are as follows

Professional Platinum Group (25 years old and above)
Guzheng professional students, teachers and professional group players and freelancers

Professional Youth Group A (18 years old - 35 years old)
Students, teachers and professional group players of the eleven major music academies in China (including teachers and freelancers from all over the world whose last degree is within three years after graduation from the eleven major music academies)

Professional Youth Group B (18 years old - 35 years old)
Students, teachers and professional group players of guzheng in art colleges or comprehensive universities

Professional Teenager Group (under 17 years old)
Students majoring in guzheng in secondary schools, elementary schools and secondary schools of professional music colleges

- All contestants' registration groups are based on their current status. Please fill in the registration form truthfully with the institution of study and work unit (contestants who graduated within three years of their final education will be registered according to their final institution of study). Players will be allowed to apply for groups that are higher than this group, but not lower than the corresponding group. Players who have already received the notice of passing the third examination of professional music academy, secondary school and primary school this year cannot apply for the amateur group competition.

· The entry fee for this competition is S$99/person for the Amateur Solo Group, S$129/person for the Professional Solo Group. Amateur Ensemble Group S$199/group, Professional Ensemble Group S$299/group. (All performing members of the Ensemble Group will receive the certificate, but only one trophy cup will be awarded to the Zither Ensemble Organization).

· How to submit works: You can provide a link to the official website application form through file sharing websites (such as Google Drive, Baidu Cloud, Dropbox, WeTransfer, Microsoft OneDrive, etc.). Please note that we do not accept any links from video streaming sites like Youku, Tencent Video, Youtube, Vimeo, etc.

· The entry video must be recorded in landscape, no editing or editing, and must be the original performance recording. The camera lens should be at a proper distance from the zither stand and be able to see at least half of the height of the zither stand. Please name the video files with "Participant's Name - Song Name" and put all files in the same folder, only one folder link should be shared.

· The judges will rank according to the results after the comprehensive score. For every 100 works, 5 PLATINUM, 10 GOLD, 25 SILVER, and 60 BRONZE will be selected. And set the Outstanding Original Music Award and Outstanding Mentor Award. The Organizing Committee reserves the right to adjust the number of winners based on the number of entries and performance levels in each group.

· The repertoire requirements for each group are as follows:

Amateur Preschool Group: One work of your choice

Amateur Children Group and Amateur Teenager Group: One work of your choice

Amateur Youth Group: Two work of your choice

Amateur Middle-aged and Elderly Group: One work of your choice

Amateur Ensemble Group: One work of your choice

Professional Group: Two works of your choice, one for modern compositions (excluding adaptations of other songs or from other instruments including original pieces), one for traditional work

· Examples of music styles:

Traditional music, such as 高山流水, 寒鸦戏水, 渔舟唱晚, 出水莲, 汉宫秋月, 四段锦, 月儿高, 将军令

Modern compositions, such as 箜篌引, 香山射鼓, 雪山春晓, 战台风, 西域随想, 溟山, 临安遗恨, 幻想曲

transplanted adaptations and popular music adaptations, such as 山丹丹开花红艳艳, 浏阳河, 井冈山上太阳红, 瑶族舞曲, 彝族舞曲, 梅花三弄, 草原英雄小姐妹

· Competitors need to memorize the music score (except for the ensemble group).

· None of the entries may have any kind of accompaniment.

· If there are only two participants in a repertory group, both of them must play the guzheng. If there are three or more participants, one of them is allowed to play another instrument.

· The judges scored the performance based on a number of dimensions, including the difficulty of music, mastery of performance techniques, and musical expressiveness. Difficulty of music is also included in the judging category. When the contestants choose their own songs, they should choose the ones that can show their highest level. For categories that require two pieces of their own choice, the contestants should choose two pieces of music with different styles and types according to the regulations.

· Contestants are required to attach the electronic music score (PDF format) of the published score of the self-selected song for reference by the judges. The electronic score file should indicate: (1) the name of the contestant; (2) the competition category. If there is no published score, please provide the composer's consent.

· Contestants must complete the performance within the time limit of each category; the judges have the right to stop the performance of the contestant when the time limit is exceeded. The total performance time of the entries should not exceed 30 minutes.

· Please submit a text description (maximum 100 words) in Chinese or English for each piece.

· Before the performance, the performer faces the camera and announces the following text: “I am XXX, today is xxx (MM/DD/YYYY). The following program is for the World Guzheng Competition held by the Asian Art Association of Singapore”. After that, the performance shall be performed continuously without any editing, including doubling of the sound.

· Excellent teacher award will be set up in this competition. The organizing committee will issue "Best Mentor Award" to all the contestants who have PLATINUM and Gold.

· Entries can only be performed by themselves, and it is strictly prohibited to embezzle other people's works. If there is any infringement, the creator will be responsible for legal responsibility, and has nothing to do with the organizer, except to recover the reward according to law.

· Participants are not allowed to have any contact with the judges during the competition, and the judges are not allowed to grade their own students. Violators will be disqualified from the competition and their prizes will be forfeited.

· Entries and fee will not be returned. The organizer has the rights to archive, broadcast, exhibit, and publish the selected winning works, and will not pay any remuneration or rights fees for future use.

· Please make sure the registration information is correct, and an administrative fee of 10 SGD will be charged for amending the information or resubmitting the work before the registration deadline. After the registration deadline, no amendment is allowed.

· The contents on the award certificate are adopted from the information filled in the registration. Please fill in the form carefully and contact the competition organizing committee within 15 days if you find any mistake.

· The organizer has the final right of interpretation of this event. Signing up for the competition means abiding by the selection rules and the final selection result of the organizer.