Joseph Calleja will be actively raising money for his own charitable foundation with a Christmas concert on December 28.
The BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation, launched last summer, aims to help children from underprivileged backgrounds – with talent in the arts, sport and academia – to nurture their gift.
“I remember one of my peers, when I was still studying, was this brilliant brass player. Everyone agreed he was amazing and would go on to become a top world brassist, but sadly he couldn’t because of lack of financial means,” Mr Calleja said.
He is determined this will not happen again under his watch. “I don’t want children with talent to miss out on opportunities,” Mr Calleja told The Sunday Times of Malta.
Mr Calleja, currently at the Lyric Opera in Chicago performing to great acclaim as Alfredo in Verdi’s La Traviata, described his charity as “the safety net under the safety net” for those cases that “slip through the holes” of other philanthropic NGOs all doing “sterling work”.
I pulled it off, thankfully, but my legs were shaking I can tell you
He is proud of the ripple effects that his BOV Children’s choir has left on the music scene.
“It has paid off, involving hundreds of children in my summer concerts. Many of them are now dreaming about having careers in the arts – in opera, in musicals,” he said.
What’s more, he said, children and their parents no longer view it as something unattainable. As long as there is the pre-requisite talent it is can be achieved.
He mentioned several budding opera singers whose conservatory studies and careers he is following closely: Joseph Lia, Nico Darmanin, Claire Ghigo, Cliff Zammit Stevens and Nicola Said. The latter two will be joining him at the foundation’s first fundraising activity to be held over the Christmas holidays. The concert will also feature St Paul’s choral society, pianist Simone Attard, as well as a group of children from his choir.
They will be singing Christmas carols, choral pieces, opera arias and songs from the tenor’s latest album Amore in aid of the foundation.
Mr Calleja, who will be performing in Chicago for another fortnight, is looking forward to his break in Malta over Christmas.
It has been a particularly busy season for him, and the last few weeks peppered with memorable appearances: he has performed for US President Barak Obama and before long-serving US Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who is an opera fan.
Particularly challenging for him was his choice of aria at the presentation of the 2013 Kennedy Centre Honours in Washington.
He sang the Celeste Aida from Verdi’s Aida in tribute to pre-eminent American soprano Martina Arroyo, one of this year’s five honourees together with actress Shirley MacLaine, and jazz and rock legends Herbie Hancock, Billy Joel and Carlos Santana.
“I had never sung the Celeste Aida – it’s not in my repertoire. It’s something I should sing when I’m 43,” said the 35-year-old. But he felt the occasion – a live audience of 4,000 people and another nine million television viewers when it will be broadcast on CBS-TV on December 29 – allowed him to make an exception.
“I pulled it off, thankfully, but my legs were shaking I can tell you,” he said.
To add to the pressure, the next day he had a performance in Chicago, so from the Presidential ceremony he rushed straight to the airport only to find that the flight to Washington had been cancelled.
“By hook or by crook, we managed to get to Chicago on the afternoon of the Monday and I took to the stage in the evening,” he said, his relief palpable.
As a self declared ‘Maltaphile’ and Malta’s cultural ambassador, the star-studded celebrations gave him the chance to promote the island.
“I met senators who knew about Mattia Preti, Caravaggio and my summer concert which made me realise how our history, our art and our culture are our unique selling points,” he said. Another senator spoke to him about the ground-breaking research of Adrian Attard Trevisan, a Maltese doctor, specialising in autism.
After his break in Malta the tenor will head for the Metropolitan Opera in New York followed by performances at the Royal Opera House in London.
The BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation Christmas concert will be held on December 28 at the Casino Maltese at 8pm. Tickets at a donation of €300 each. Ticket information: jesmond.sciberras@bov.com or 22753784.