Born in Malta in 1978, Joseph Calleja began singing at the age of 16, first in his church choir, and then in formal training with Maltese tenor Paul Asciak.Calleja was only 19 when he made his operatic debut as Macduff in Verdi’s Macbeth at the Astra Theatre in Malta, shortly before winning an award in the Hans Gabor Belvedere competition that launched his international career. He went on to win the 1998 Caruso Competition in Milan and was a prize winner in Domingo’s Operalia in 1999. At only 35 years of age, he has sung an impressive 28 principal roles. His frequent appearances on the world’s leading opera and concert stages as well as his expansive discography have prompted NPR to hail him as “arguably today’s finest lyric tenor” and led to him being voted Gramophone magazine’s 2012 Artist of the Year.After co-headlining 2012’s Last Night of the BBC Proms, Calleja returns to the London festival this September for two performances to close out the summer. First he performs a gala concert at the Royal Albert Hall to celebrate Verdi’s 200th birthday, and then marks the Last Night of the Proms in an open-air concert at Hyde Park, where he joins violinist Nigel Kennedy and Bryan Ferry.