| Biography | Joseph Calleja, (born 22 January 1978), is a Maltese tenor. He began singing at the age of 16 and, having been discovered by Paul Asciak, continued his studies with him. At 19, he made his operatic debut as Macduff in Verdi's Macbeth at Astra Theatre in Gozo and went on to become a prize winner at the Belvedere Hans Gabor competition the same year. In 1998 he won the Caruso Competition in Milan and was a prize winner in Plácido Domingo's Operalia International Opera Competition in 1999. He has since been considered one of the most promising young tenors of the 21st century.
In Europe Calleja has performed in many Opera Houses including Royal Opera House in Covent Garden in London, the Vienna Staatsoper, Frankfurt Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra National du Rhin in Strasbourg, Teatre Principal in Majorca, Gran Teatre de Liceu in Barcelona and many more.
In the USA Calleja has performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, Washington National Opera, and the Civic Opera House in Chicago. Calleja has recorded two CDs of opera arias: Tenor Arias and The Golden Voice.
In July 2011, Joseph Callejas third solo album "Joseph Calleja The Maltese Tenor" reached second overall position on the German charts and debuted at number one in the US Billboard Classical Traditional chart. It captured the development of his art and presents him in some of the roles he is currently performing to ecstatic critical responses: "All the ardor and beauty of tone one could wish for...one of the finest lyric tenors before the public today" (Houston Chronicle on recent performances of Puccini's Madama Butterfly)
On 9 July 2011, Calleja staged an annual concert with Christchurch soprano Hayley Westenra and Italian singer Lucio Dalla at the Granaries in Malta.
On 8 December 2011, Calleja performed at the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Stockholm.
On 8 September 2012, Calleja sang at the Last Night of Proms 2012.
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