On the evening of 23 July, Midsummer Vilnius welcomes world-class tenor Joseph Calleja together with the Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra — a rare opportunity to hear one of the most distinguished operatic voices of our time. Within the festival’s programme, this concert stands out for its international scope: Vilnius audience will meet a soloist whose performances have graced many of the world’s leading stages and whose voice has been part of major opera house seasons for more than two decades.

Joseph Calleja made his professional debut at nineteen, swiftly winning the prestigious Caruso Competition and becoming a prize-winner at Operalia — achievements that opened the way to the international opera world. In 2012, he was named Gramophone’s Artist of the Year. From the outset, he has been a regularly invited soloist to the New York’s Metropolitan Opera, London’s Royal Opera House, Munich’s Bayerische Staatsoper, leading opera theatres across Europe, such as Vienna and Berlin, and across the United States.

He is celebrated for a distinctive vocal character — a resonant, golden-age timbre and an ability to unite bel canto finesse with the expressive force of Romantic opera. His repertoire spans a broad range of classical and Romantic works, though he is heard at his finest in the Italian and French traditions: the music of Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti, Bellini, and the French Romantics. Critics consistently praise the clarity of his sound, his elegant phrasing, and the confidence of his style. Since 2003, Calleja has been an exclusive artist with Decca Classics. His recording of La traviata with Renée Fleming and Thomas Hampson earned him a Grammy nomination — a significant milestone in his recording career.

Calleja has sung at the Nobel Prize Concert in Stockholm and has appeared twice at the BBC Proms — a high point of Britain’s classical music calendar. He has also given private performances for members of the British royal family, including Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III. Beyond the opera stage, he made his Hollywood debut in 2014 in the film The Immigrant.

This year’s appearance at the Midsummer Vilnius festival offers another unforgettable conversation with the global opera world, an invitation to experience exceptional artistry beneath the open summer sky of Vilnius.