Facts: - years active: 1978 -- present - birth date: 22 january 1978 - name: joseph calleja - nationality: maltese - image: maltese tenor joseph calleja.jpg - birth place: attard , malta - occupation: tenor Based on these bullet points, write a short biography describing the life of joseph calleja .
A:
joseph calleja , -lrb- born 22 january 1978 in attard -rrb- , is a maltese tenor .he began singing at the age of 16 , having been discovered by tenor brian cefai and continued his studies with paul asciak .at 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 placido domingo 's operalia international opera competition in 1999 .he has since been considered one of the most promising young tenors of the 21st century .'' joseph calleja -- the tenor who is malta 's national treasure '' by imogen tilden , '' the guardian '' , 6 september 2012 -rrb- on 2 november 2012 , the university of malta presented calleja with a doctor of literature honoris causa in acknowledgment of his achievements as an internationally renowned tenor .