The Second Shanghai International Piano Competition opened Friday night in the Shanghai Grand Theater.  

The 11-day event has attracted 40 piano players from 19 countries. The final to be held on Nov. 10 and 11 will decide the champion, who will be awarded with a prize of US$20,000.

The 10 judges are from France, Germany, Italy, the United States, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Finland and China. Yang Liqing, director of the Shanghai Conservatory of Music, was elected chairman of the judge committee.

The competition was first held in December of 2001 and Grynyuk Alexe from Ukraine won the championship.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2003)