Starry Sky Electronic Symphony Orchestra from Tianjin Conservatory of Music received several awards at the 2016 Italian IBLA International Music Festival, according to Tianjin Daily.

The IBLA International Music Festival, held in Sicily, Italy, is an international integrated music competition made up of diversified music areas. More than 200 music groups from over 20 countries participated in this year's event.

Starry Sky was particularly successful receiving a Best Musician Award and four Outstanding Musician Prizes. The Tianjin-based ensemble also gained a unique reputation at the festival thanks in part to their creative combination of the electronic accordion and percussion.

Bao Yuankai, a musician for the orchestra, played two musical pieces -- Jasmine (Molihua in Chinese) and Terracotta Warrior (Qinyong Hun in Chinese) -- in the competition, both of which combined Chinese traditional music elements and the composing pattern into the modern electronic accordion performances.

The Starry Sky Electronic Symphony Orchestra, with 16 members, is the first electronic symphony orchestra in China and was established in 2011.

Zhu Jingbai, head of the orchestra, said the electronic accordion can play the sound of traditional accordions and can be connected to the computer, adding in various sounds of other musical instruments or nature sounds, which enables it to act like a workstation -- a single player can be a small musical band.