Joseph Calleja: "The voice found me"

Nominated for Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Maltese tenor Joseph Calleja speaks backstage at the Classic BRIT Awards.

Since his debut at the age of 19 on Gozo, the charming island neighbouring Malta, 35-year-old Joseph Calleja has won prizes at major European singing competitions and performed at many of the world’s greatest opera houses.

At just 35, he's quickly become one of the most acclaimed and sought after tenors working today, having played 28 roles on stage and hailed as 'arguably today's finest lyric tenor.'

He was nominated in both the Breakthrough Artist of the Year and Classic FM Album of the Year categories in the Classic BRIT Awards 2013.

After his performance of the song Caruso at the ceremony, he told Classic FM's Jamie Crick how hearing Mario Lanza at the age of 14 enthralled him and led to his becoming a singer.