An international choir contest will be held in July this year in Xiamen, a coastal city in east China's Fujian Province, organizers said Tuesday.

 

To date, 225 choirs, including about 10,000 singers, from 61 countries have signed up for the contest, the 4th World Choir Games, organizers said.

 

The choir contest is jointly organized by the municipal government of Xiamen and Foderverein Interkultur (international cultural exchanges fund), a German non-governmental organization.

 

More than 120 Chinese choirs have signed up for the contest, and the number is expected to reach 150 by the end of this month, the deadline for the application, according to the municipal government of Xiamen .

 

The choir contest, the largest one of its kind in the world and called "Choir Olympics" in the previous three sessions, takes place every two years.

 

(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2006)