The BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation has announced that 18-year-old Charles Buttigieg, one of its young scholars from Ghajnsielem, Gozo, has been offered a full tuition scholarship to study Voice at the prestigious Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Following a rigorous application process, Charles was selected to audition before the Admissions Panel in Philadelphia last month and has now been informed that he has been selected for a place on the course which starts in September.

Curtis is one of the leading music conservatoires in the United States and specialises in educating and training the world's most gifted young musicians. In its letter of offer Curtis stated that Charles "stood out as one of the most talented and promising students in what was one of the most competitive applicant pools in the history of the Institute".

Joseph Calleja said that he was "delighted to hear the news" noting that Charles was "a rare baritone talent that the BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation had been encouraging and supporting for over two years" adding that this "is the first step in what will be a long journey - but an excellent step at that, as Curtis is an outstanding conservatoire and with an acceptance rate of just 5% of applicants, competition for places there is always intense". 

Calleja remarked that "great credit is due to Juliette Bisazza, Charles' voice coach, who had been working with him for a number of years and who had prepared him so well for the critical audition process".

Buttigieg said that he was rendered "speechless" when he received the email notifying him of his success and that he was greatly looking forward to taking up his place and working hard at Curtis, which has a very diverse community and which has a culture of "leaning by doing".

He added that he was most grateful to Juliette Bisazza, to Joseph Calleja and to the BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation and its patrons as well as to the many, many people who have helped and encouraged him over the years.