Biography

Charles Buttigieg is a 27-year-old baritone from the island of Gozo, Malta.

In July 2026, Charles appeared as a soloist in Opera Gala Amiata at Forum Fondazione Bertarelli in Tuscany, performing alongside fellow Mascarade Opera artists, conductor Nicholas Chalmers, and the Sinfonia Smith Square Orchestra. Earlier in 2026, he returned to his home island with Closer to the Voice: Charles Buttigieg Live, an intimate concert experience featuring opera, bel canto, verismo, and Neapolitan classics.  In the 2026/27 season he will compete as a semi-finalist at the Ottavio Zino Competition in Italy and will sing a private a concert as part of Malta Day in Rome at the Villa Macchia Madama, to be broadcasted on Malta TV. 

For the 2025/26 season, Charles is an Affiliate Artist with Mascarade Opera and performs regularly across Europe. During this period, he performed in Parma with Mascarade Opera, with roles including the Notary in Donizetti's Don Pasquale and King Alfonso XI in La Favorita. In 2024, he joined Mascarade Opera in Florence, continuing his artistic development as part of its international training programme.

In 2023, Charles was selected to compete as a quarterfinalist in Operalia, Plácido Domingo's world-renowned opera competition, held in Cape Town, South Africa. That same year, he was invited to perform at a 9/11 Memorial Concert in Houston, Texas.

In 2022, he shared the stage with tenor Joseph Calleja at Opera Naples in Florida, where he also performed the role of Mercutio in Roméo et Juliette as part of the Opera Naples Young Artist Program. That year, he also graduated with honours from the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where he studied with mezzo-soprano Patricia McCaffrey.

In 2021, Charles was invited to sing with the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert featuring legendary soprano Diana Damrau.

In 2019, at just 20 years of age, Charles performed the title role of Figaro in The Barber of Seville with Opera Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center, accompanied by the Curtis Symphony Orchestra.

During his time at Curtis, Charles also attended Dolora Zajick's Institute for Young Dramatic Voices. He was invited to perform in a private fundraising concert in New York City in the presence of Metropolitan Opera Chairman Ann Ziff, soprano Renée Fleming, and mezzo-soprano Dolora Zajick. At Curtis, he made his debut as Masetto in Don Giovanni, Mr Fogg in Sweeney Todd, and the Spirit in Dido and Aeneas. Charles has received an Encouragement Award from the Metropolitan Opera on two occasions.

Charles attended the Mediterranean Opera Studio & Festival in Caltagirone, Sicily, where he was chosen by Jack Livigni to perform Marcello in La Bohème and Enrico in Lucia di Lammermoor at Teatro Eschillo in Gela and Agrigento. Under Mr Livigni's leadership, Charles was later invited to attend one of the most prestigious music institutions in the United States, the Curtis Institute of Music.

Charles continues to perform frequently in his home country: he has performed Morales in Carmen at Teatru Astra in Gozo, sung with Joseph Calleja and Andrea Bocelli in a Christmas Special, and for three consecutive years headlined his own concert in Gozo, Charles Buttigieg in Concert, bringing opera and classical music to local audiences.

Charles studied voice for many years with the late Maltese soprano Juliette Bisazza and has been supported by the BOV Joseph Calleja Foundation in the pursuit of his vocal studies. His musical journey began at a young age, when he joined a local choir and discovered the voice that would go on to take him from Gozo to international stages across Europe and the United States.