Pop opera trio Il Volo is set to delight their legions of fans with a concert in Malta that promises to be a celebration of all the songs that brought fame, festival wins and multiple awards to the young singers.

Made up of Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto and Gianluca Ginoble, the group has wowed American Idol and Entourage audiences. Their self-titled 2013 debut album sold more than one million copies worldwide and they have reached the top 10 on Billboard’s Classical Crossover chart, besides chalking up a number of song festival successes to its name.

But what is it about these singers’ pop approach to the classics that has made them a favourite with so many?

From Italy, your music has travelled as far off as Malaysia, Taiwan, the US and Singapore. How does this make you feel?

Proud to be Italian and happy to have this opportunity to follow our dream and sing in such a short time.

You have performed with the legendary Barbra Streisand at a very early stage of your career and at a young age. How do you describe the experience?

It was really incredible. Our first meeting with her was a storm of emotions; it was a mix of crying, laughing and trying to wake up from what we felt sure must have been a dream. But it wasn’t and all three of us were really there with her. She is a total myth for us… and she wanted us to be there, singing with her, for 12 whole concerts. It was marvellous.

What did you learn from it all?

That good music has no limits of language, age or time, especially if you give the best on every stage at every time.

Il Volo was not born organically, but rather through the intervention of various people and manager Michele Torpedini. How did if feel for each of you to suddenly be performing with another two ‘strangers’ in a band? Was it hard to adjust?

We did not really think of each other as strangers. In fact, we clicked from the very first time we met and we became friends pretty fast, even though we were actually competing against each other in the same talent show. Today, we share our lives, almost like brothers.

Good music has no limits of language, age or time

Have you ever wondered what your career might be like had you opted to remain solo artists?

At the moment we are not really thinking about this. There are still so many things we would like to do and discover together.

After releasing your first album, you focused mostly on the US. How do you describe your experience there? What differences (if any) do you seen between the American musicians and music scene and the European ones?

Our experience was really different with respect that of our Italian colleagues. In fact, you could say that we started by first living the so-called ‘American dream’ and then we left a mark on the Italian and European public consciousness after the San Remo Festival. But like we said before, good music knows no boundaries and good musicians are good in every country. We can learn something from any music scene.

You have done very well in festivals at such a young age. Are you worried that your music might become typecast and solely associated with the festival scene?

We don’think so. Our success in all the countries mentioned happened long before our participations in the festivals. Of course, taking part in a festival offers extremely good exposure and when you win, like we did, well the satisfaction is even greater.

How do you see Il Volo as growing in the next years?

We can only hope to be able to remain on the scene for a long time.

Going on tour at such a young age – away from family and friends – is not easy. How do you cope with it? What are the biggest challenges? And the fun aspects?

We are not always alone, as some of our family members sometimes follow us on tour. When we are in Italy we are at home and, of course, we never feel alone. When we are on tour abroad we are three friends who share not only work, but also fun experiences and emotions.

As a group, which music achievement are you most proud of?

The fact that we are popular with people hailing from three different generations. We love the fact that, thanks to us, younger people are discovering songs that nowadays are not played often. As for the older people, they rediscover their old melodies, melodies to which we now give a different, more modern take.

What can we expect from your concert in Malta?

We hope that the Maltese will appreciate our performance. This is a great occasion to get to know our neighbours!

Il Volo perform on Saturday at 9pm at the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre, Ta’ Qali. Tickets are available online.

http://ilvolo.ticketline.com.mt