Chinese baritone Zhou Fei, a teacher from the music department at the Business College of Shanxi University, received an award at the 22nd Italy Orvieto International Vocal Competition on July 17.

For the competition final, Zhou sang Per me giunto, an aria composed by Giuseppe Verdi, which won him the recognition of the judges from Italy, Germany, Canada, Portugal and Greece.

The only prizewinner from Chinese mainland, Zhou won the Piacenza Opera House Award and an invitation to perform a solo concert in Turin, Italy.

Zhou has previously won the gold award with the bel canto group of the Shanxi district during the Chinese Golden Bell Awards in Music in both 2013 and 2015. He has often won prizes in competitions held in Shanxi, and is often known as "the No. 1 baritone of Shanxi".

Zhou attended the Ising International Young Artists Festival in 2016. During the festival, he received help and recognition from impresarios from the New York Metropolitan Opera, Milan Scala Opera, Sydney Opera House and China's National Center for the Performing Arts.

He has performed seven solo concerts in recent years, and can sing in Chinese, Italian, German, English, French and Spanish.