Calleja was born in Attard, Malta. He began singing at the age of 16, having been discovered by tenor Brian Cefai and continued his studies with Maltese tenor Paul Asciak. He attended De La Salle College.[2] At the age of 19 he made his operatic debut as Macduff in Verdi's Macbeth at the 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 in 1999.[3]
On November 2, 2012, the University of Malta presented Calleja with a Doctor of Literature Honoris Causa in acknowledgment of his achievements as an internationally renowned tenor.[4]
On October 8, 2015, Calleja was elected to the board of directors of the European Academy of Music Theatre.[5]
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[11] and debuted at number one in the US Billboard Classical Traditional chart. His 2011 DVD of La traviata from the Royal Opera House and costarring Renée Fleming was nominated for a Grammy award.[12][citation needed] His 2020 album The Magic of Mantovani. The Original Recordings With Joseph Calleja topped Amazon's UK's Opera Charts.[13]
The Drake Calleja Trust came into existence on the 1st September 2015.[14] Established by publisher and philanthropist James JP Drake,[15] the patron of this trust is Joseph Calleja. It has completed six application calls until 2021 and awarded seventy scholarships for studies in the United Kingdom to exceptionally talented music students of classical music on undergraduate, postgraduate, and research levels. Through these grants, students have purchased new instruments, participated in competitions, masterclasses and training, attended auditions in the UK and other countries, made recordings, and furthered their studies.[16]
On 25 October 2013, Calleja together with Bank of Valletta launched the BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation. The aim of the foundation is to help vulnerable individuals and social groups in the Maltese community. Specifically, its attention is directed towards helping underprivileged children with unique artistic or musical talents.[17]
2010: DVD of Simon Boccanegra featuring Calleja as Gabriele Adorno with Plácido Domingo in the title role; recorded at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London
2011: DVD of La traviata featuring Calleja as Alfredo Germont, recorded at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London (Grammy nomination)
2012: Solo recital disc, Be My Love – A Tribute to Mario Lanza, BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Steven Mercurio
2013: Solo recital disc, Amore, with the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Steven Mercurio and featuring Nicola Benedetti and Ksenija Sidorova
2013: CD of Simon Boccanegra featuring Calleja as Gabriele Adorno with Thomas Hampson in the title role; conducted by Massimo Zanetti
2016: DVD and Blu-ray of Mefistofele featuring Calleja as Faust, with René Pape in the title role; conducted by Omer Meir Wellber at Bayerische Staatsoper, Munich.
2018: Verdi, Orchestra de la Comunitat Valenciana, conducted by Ramón Tebar, Decca
Calleja made a guest appearance on Renée Fleming's album By Request, singing the role of Alfredo in the act 1 closing scene of La traviata. His recording of "La donna è mobile" from Verdi's Rigoletto was featured in the soundtrack for the 2007 film No Reservations, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones.
^Joseph Calleja album tops Amazon UK's opera charts –Tenor brings back to life original Decca recordings of Mantovani, September 29, 2020, Times of Malta Retrieved 01Jan21
