World famous Tenor

Joseph Calleja, son of Carmelo and Rita née Bianco is one of the most sought-after tenors on both sides of the Atlantic, and is considered as Malta's national treasure. A young and exciting presence in today’s music world, Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja has established himself as one of the most promising artists of his generation.

Born in Attard, Calleja began singing at the age of 16, training with Maltese tenor Paul Asciak. He made his professional debut in Malta in 1997 as Macduff in Macbeth and won an award in the Belvedere Hans Gabor competition later that year. He went on to win the 1998 Caruso Competition in Milan and was a prizewinner in Domingo’s Operalia the following year. Since then he has sung with virtually all the world’s leading opera companies.

Calleja made his North American debut as Rinuccio in Gianni Schicchi at the Spoleto Festival. He appeared as Macduff with Seattle Opera and debuted with both Los Angeles Opera and Lyric Opera of Chicago as Alfredo in La traviata. He made his Met debut in 2006 as the Duke in Rigoletto and has returned there regularly, including in the title role in Bartlett Sher’s new production of Les Contes d’Hoffmann. Further American appearances have included Rodolfo with the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto, Almaviva in Il barbiere di Siviglia and the Duke of Mantua for Washington Opera, and Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor for Minnesota Opera.

He made his Covent Garden debut as the Duke of Mantua, and soon returned to sing Alfredo and Macduff. At the Vienna Staatsoper his roles have included Arturo in I puritani, Verdi’s Duke, Rodolfo, Alfredo and Nemorino, and the title role of Roberto Devereux. He sang Tebaldo in Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi at the Konzerthaus in Vienna alongside Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca in performances recorded by Deutsche Grammophon and released in 2009. He has appeared with Zurich Opera as Verdi’s Duke, the role of his debuts with the Bavaria, Netherlands and Welsh National operas and the Deutsche Oper of Berlin. Audiences at Barcelona’s Liceu first saw him as Nemorino, and he debuted as Rodolfo at the Dresden Semperoper and Frankfurt Opera.

Calleja’s opera appearances in 2012 include Gounod’s Faust at the Met, Roberto Devereux, Rodolfo and the Duke of Mantua in Munich, Rodolfo at Covent Garden, and Pinkerton in Vienna. Among his concert engagements are a “Three Tenors” evening at Covent Garden with Plácido Domingo and Rolando Villazón, conducted by Sir Antonio Pappano, Mascagni’s L’amico Fritz in Frankfurt, as well as galas in Copenhagen, Aarhus, Strasbourg, Eisenstadt, Malta, Munich, Berlin and Helsinki. Plans for 2013 already include Tebaldo andthe Dukein Munich, Rodolfo in Chicago, Un ballo in maschera in Frankfurt and Simon Boccanegra in Vienna.

Also in great demand as a concert artist, Calleja has toured throughout Germany in recitals and solo concerts, and with soprano Anna Netrebko. The tenor’s German debut was as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni at the Regensburg Festival, and he later returned to this role for his debut with the Teatre Principal, Majorca. His first appearance at the Rossini Opera Festival in Pesaro was in the role of Lind in the world premiere of Azio Corghi’s Isabella. Other highlights of recent seasons include performances as Alfredo in a new production of La Traviata at the Opera National du Rhin, Strasbourg; Ernesto in Don Pasquale in Brussels; Almaviva in Il Barbiere di Siviglia in Liege; Fenton in Falstaff at the Teatro Regio Torino; Edoardo di Sanval in Verdi’s Un giorno di regno in Bologna; the Duke in Rotterdam and Copenhagen; Rodolfo in La bohème.  He has appeared at such festivals as Faenol (with Bryn Terfel), Salzburg and the BBC Proms, where he sang in the Verdi Requiem under Riccardo Chailly.

In Europe, Calleja has performed in many opera houses including Royal Opera House in London, the Vienna State Opera, Teatro Real in Madrid Frankfurt Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Opéra national du Rhin in Strasbourg, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Munich, and many more.

Calleja made his U.S. debut in 1999 at the Spoleto Festival. Since then, he has performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, Houston Grand Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Seattle Opera, Washington National Opera, and the Lyric Opera of Chicago.

He has sung at a number of summer festivals, including the Salzburg Festival and The Proms in London, where he also appeared at Last Night of the Proms in 2012 at Royal Albert Hall and in 2013 at the Proms in the Park. He has given outdoor concerts in Malta, Paris, Munich, and Amsterdam. He was the featured soloist at the 2011 Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm, was selected by the Maltese President to perform a private concert for Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

In 2013, Calleja sang at the Kennedy Center Honors in tribute to honoree Martina Arroyo, appearing in the same program as Snoop Doggand performing for an audience that included President Barack Obama. The event was telecast on CBS. The same year, he also performed at the Supreme Court of the United States for Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as part of the Supreme Court Musicale, co-presented by the Richard Tucker Foundation.

Calleja’s first solo recital disc, Tenor Arias, was released in 2004. He followed that up in 2005 with The Golden Voice. In 2011, his 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.His 2011 DVD of La traviata from the Royal Opera House and co-starring Renée Fleming was nominated for a Grammy award.

His performances in Malta include Nemorino in L’elisir d’amore and Alfredo in La Traviata both at the Manoel Theatre in 2006, Rodolfo in La Boheme at the Astra theatre in Gozo, his concert at the Manoel Island in 2005, the 10th Anniversary Concert 07/07/07 at Mdina, and the Pavarotti Tribute Concert in July 2008 at Valletta.

In 2009, Calleja began a series of annual concerts at the Granaries in Malta. The first concert was performed with Michael Bolton. In 2010, he sang with Dionne Warwick and Riccardo Cocciante and his choir of 500 children. In 2011, he appeared with soprano Hayley Westenra and Italian singer Lucio Dalla. In 2012, he was joined by Ronan Keating and Gigi D'Alessio. In 2013, he sang with Zucchero, Rebecca Ferguson, Gianluca Bezzina, Riccardo Cocciante and Tenisha. In 2015, he sang with Anastacia as a special guest, and in 2016 with Antonello Venditti Suzanne Vega.

Calleja was named Gramophone Artist of the Year in 2012. In the same year, Calleja was selected to serve as Malta's first cultural ambassador and was also named a brand ambassador for Air Malta one year later. In 2013, he teamed up with Malta's Bank of Valletta to form the BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation, which will serve to help children and families in need.  In 2015 Calleja teamed up with James Drake to form the Drake Calleja Trust (http://www.drakecallejatrust.org), which is a charity providing essential financial support to exceptionally talented young classical musicians.

In December 2006, Calleja was honoured by the Republic of Malta when he was appointed member of the National Order of Merit (M.O.M.), and in January 2008 he was awarded the Gold Medal by the Malta Society of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce, presented by the President of Malta.

On 18 August 2017, the Italian Ambassador to Malta Giovanni Umberto De Vito honoured tenor Joseph Calleja with the high Italian decoration of ‘Cavaliere al Merito della Repubblica Italiana’. The Maltese tenor was given the award for his outstanding artistic talents in performing Italian composers’ work, his exceptional portrayals of numerous leading roles in Italian operas and his passionate performance of classic and renowned Italian songs.

The Italian Ambassador said that ‘this recognition would like to highlight the special relationship of Italian music, language, culture and a way of life we feel with Maestro Calleja. We have always had a special and long standing bond when it comes with Italian music and culture.’

This biography is part of the collection created by Michael Schiavone over a 30-year period. Read more about Schiavone and his initiative here.