Kevin Caruana, baritone, is an Honours graduate from the University of Malta and has studied with Marie-Thérèse Vassallo and Claire Massa, his current teacher, complementing his studies with master classes in Siena (Accademia Chigiana) and Salzburg (Mozarteum Sommerakademie) with Renato Bruson and Elio Battaglia. Considered “one of the more promising singers of the young generation” (The Sunday Times), Caruana has sung in most of the leading venues in Malta such as Teatru Manoel, Sala Isouard, St James Cavalier, Casino Maltese, Teatru Astra, the Mediterranean Conference Centre and St John’s Co-Cathedral, occasionally sharing the stage with artists of international repute. His operatic debut in a concert version of highlights from Puccini’s Madama Butterfly was followed by roles in Kalman’s La Principessa della Czardas, Gounod’s Roméo et Juliette, Bernstein’s Candide, Puccini’s La Bohème, and Verdi’s Rigoletto and Macbeth. In 2007 he performed his first two major roles, singing the only role in Cimarosa’s one-man opera Il Maestro di Cappella and Papageno in Mozart’s Magic Flute for Teatru Manoel. His concert performances have included Bach’s solo cantata Ich habe genug, Mozart’s Coronation Mass, Saint-Saëns’ Oratorio de Noël, Brahms’ Liebeslieder-Walzer, Henze’s Moralities, and the première of Carmelo Pace’s cantata Trionfo di Fede. Equally at home in recital, Caruana has sung works from the English art song and German lieder repertoires, among which Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel and Schumann’s Dichterliebe. Last November he was guest soloist at the Malta International Choir Festival. Recent engagements have included a Mozart and Donizetti programme at the Théâtre Municipal in Bastia, France. Upcoming performances include Peter in Humperdinck’s Hansel and Gretel.

On 10 and 12 March he will be singing the role of Betto in Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi at Teatru Manoel, in a joint production with Palermo’s Opera Laboratorio as part of the ninth edition of the BOV Opera Festival.

How old are you? Star sign and date of birth?

25. Libra. 22 October 1982.

What would you like to be doing in 10 years’ time?

Looking back with satisfaction and forward with excitement.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Sharing my life with the person I love.

What is your favourite occupation?

Well, singing.

Significant other?

Claudia, my fiancée herself a budding

soprano.

What is your greatest fear?

Losing my hearing.

What is it that you most value in your friends?

They being my friends.

How would you like to die?

No, thank you.

What is your greatest extravagance?

Buying CDs which I take ages to listen to.

What is your greatest regret?

Not having learnt earlier to cook. It’s a passion I’ve discovered only recently. Wait, am I not too young to have regrets?

What is your most treasured possession?

My reputation.

Which talent would you most like to have apart from the ones you already have?

Painting.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

Taking oneself too seriously.

Where would you like to live?

In a chocolate factory.

What is your most marked characteristic?

In winter I wear a scarf practically all the time.

Who are your heroes/heroines in real life?

Anyone who succeeds in the face of adversity.

What is it that you most

dislike?

The amateurish attitude.

What is your motto?

When I rest, I rust.