Il Volo, the Italian operatic pop trio, has captivated audiences worldwide with their powerful vocals, undeniable charisma, and unique blend of classical and contemporary music. Comprised of Piero Barone, Ignazio Boschetto, and Gianluca Ginoble, these young men have achieved international stardom, bridging generations and musical genres with their extraordinary talent.
Their story began in 2009 on the Italian television show “Ti lascio una canzone.”
Individually, each possessed remarkable vocal abilities, but when they were brought together to perform “O Sole Mio,” magic happened. Their harmonious blend and stage presence were undeniable, and they were quickly dubbed “Il Volo” (The Flight).
Their self-titled debut album, released in 2010, was a resounding success, reaching the top ten in several countries. They quickly became known for their ability to deliver classic Italian songs with fresh, youthful energy while also tackling popular hits with operatic flair.
Fast-forward to the present day, Il Volo is one of the most successful internationally touring vocal groups in the US. They noted that they’ve ALWAYS stopped in Cleveland on each tour, and their 2025 World Tour will not be any different. It stops at Playhouse Square’s KeyBank State Theatre on Sunday, March 16. {DETAILS AND TICKETS}
The fine trio checked in with CleveRock’s managing editor, Patrick Fenner, from a tour stop in Atlanta to discuss their career and upcoming show…..
Making a grand introduction on the ZOOM call, I proudly held up my Italian Passport and shared with the trio that there were four Italian Citizens on today’s call! (I earned my dual citizenship approximately 15 years ago!)
Piero Barone: “Welcome to the Community!”
Patrick: “Why, thank you! I am still learning Italian. My sister helped set the process in motion. The opportunity that led us to our citizenship, but even better, we were able to locate family in Italy that we still speak to several times a week!”
Piero: “Where in Italy?”
Patrick: “Bronte, Sicily!”
Piero: “Yes! Pistachios are from there! It’s about an hour and a half from my home.”
Patrick: “That’s so amazing. It’s such a beautiful country, I’m so fortunate to have family there and to have visited. However, enough about me! How has the tour been going for you, gentlemen?”
Piero: “Great! It’s beautiful. We are in Atlanta now. We are almost in the middle of the tour. We finished the shows in California. We’ve done the shows in Florida, and now, we are in Atlanta, Chicago, and Cleveland. So we’re coming to Cleveland, and we’re very excited because I think this is our tour number nine in the States; we always, always performed in Cleveland because our audience is beautiful. I remember being in Cleveland. I don’t remember the name of the place, but I remember we were performing with a river on the back.”
Patrick: “Oh yes, that is Jacobs Pavilion at Nautica. It’s really a special place.”
Gianluca Ginoble: “Yeah, that was beautiful. I agree with Piero. It’s one of the most beautiful venues during the summertime. What a great place to tour. This time, we’re coming back to celebrating almost 16 years together.”
Patrick: “That actually leads me to my next question. You guys have really grown up in the public eye. You three started as young gentlemen, 16 years ago. Now you’ve spent that time touring and traveling the world together. How has that been, and what is it like to have fans all over the world getting to know you during that time? “
Gianluca: “Yeah, our life suddenly changed when we were 14 years old; 15 years old, and I remember from the streets of my little village, we moved to the States in LA and started doing shows. We were 15 or 16 years old, so we grew up on stage. So it’s our second home, probably the first home, honestly. It’s where we feel safe. It’s our safe place, and we grew up together, our audience is really faithful, and every time we come back on tour, they wait for us with such joy and passion, and it’s really beautiful to sing and to feel that energy that the audience gives to us every night. So we are really grateful for that.”
Patrick: “That’s really great to hear! Your group is really special. You cross genres and cross languages. You really have a lot of reach, if you will. I think that’s such a unique place to be!”
Ignazio Boschetto: “And it’s a great place to be! I think the most important thing in life is to communicate with people. It doesn’t matter through music; through language. It’s the most important thing, and we feel so lucky of the life that we are having today because as Gianluca said, we have an amazing audience. It’s a faithful audience. It’s not an audience that just listens to one song and then forgets about you. We have people who have followed us since the very beginning, and we are very thankful to our audience because we always try to let them understand that they are a very important part of our life. They’re the ones who allowed us to be here today to be who we are today.”
Piero: “I completely agree!”
Patrick: “That’s great to hear. That’s a pretty special relationship to have with fans. Do you find that a lot of your fans who come to see you already are pretty familiar with you? Perhaps some new are introduced to you by their own family members? I know my family is coming to see you this weekend! How do you find you reach your audience the most? Do you feel like more people are listening to your music through streaming, CDs, vinyl, etc., or do you think you’re reaching them more through your live performances?”
Piero: “This is what exactly happened in these 16 years. We had the teenagers who grew up with us, and in our shows, you see three generations, as you said, your family, you and also grandparents and mom, dad and daughter and son. So that’s the most important thing, talking about how people listen to us. We are actually through performance pop lyric. It’s unusual to be listened to from guys of 30 years old. So we have to say, also, thanks to PBS, because PBS is a great way for us to promote what we want to share and what we want to sing. Since the beginning, we’ve been recording shows on PBS, so people have the chance to not only listen but also look at the beautiful places we have in Italy. So we perform from the Arena di Verona, from Matera, from many places. Also we start from the opera house in Detroit, the first PBS show and the latest one we record was taping Sicily. So I think we want to bring, not also the culture talking about music, but everything that includes Italian culture between the temples, the historic monuments we have, and also the music. So it’s a packaging that we want to bring to our audience.”
Patrick: “I think you’re right. PBS has done some great things. I think it can provide exposure to music that may not normally be considered mainstream. There’s so much amazing music out there that exists that just doesn’t necessarily get the appropriate attention, and it’s great that a group like yours has had that experience. As I was looking through your discography, you can really see how much you have all changed as a group. Are there any things about that process that you’re looking forward to continuing as you continue as a group moving into the future?”
Gianluca: “Yeah, there are many goals, many dreams and we are growing as a person and artist as well. Of course, our voices changed a lot. We were kids when we started. We are adults right now. And, of course, our dream is always to keep bringing and spreading the count off to everyone, not just for the people who love this kind of music, but also for the people who probably can get closer to something that is very emotional. Listening to ‘Turandot: Nessun dorma’. It’s like this gives you the same vibe when you’re walking the streets of Rome. It’s something you get out of now because it’s still strong, so powerful, and this is what we are trying to do. And, of course, this has always been our goal. “
Patrick: I really love that song and can see what you mean. When I listen to your music I really often wonder what it takes to maintain your voices. What do you guys do to maintain your vocal health? Do you have routines? Maybe avoid interviews like these? How do you keep your voices healthy”
Piero: “It’s like a normal muscle of our body. If you want to….“
Gianluca: “Eat pasta!”
Piero: “HAHAHAHA! If you want to keep your muscles, you have to go to the fitness center. The walker codes are like this. You just have to train always and not forget that you have vocal cords. They’re not like I just sing and have them ready. You just need to work on every day on everything. If you want to have a relationship, you just work on that relationship. It’s the same thing. We each have our own thing we do.”
Patrick: Changing gears a little bit. Your latest album, ‘Ad Astra,’ is about to celebrate its first birthday. How has your writing process changed over the years? Do you find yourself more involved in the process than perhaps when you started your careers in the group?
Ignazio: “I mean, we’ve been always trying to improve our capacity of writing a very great song. So we ask people who make these for many years… For this album, we had more than five guys who helped us to write, some songwriters, and we had many producers because we knew the concept that we wanted. So through them, we had the result that we were waiting for.”
Patrick: It’s always about balance. You don’t have to be a songwriter to perform a great song. There’s no one right way. Well, I have taken up so much of your time! I have one last question for you. While you’re halfway through this tour now, do you have a break planned after this tour? Perhaps you’re planning on going back into the studio? Or maybe visiting with family?
Ignazio: “Yeah, no. We are working on many things right now. Of course, we’re going to have a less American tour by the end of the year and a European tour. So we are working on that. We’re working on some new projects, also musical project of course. And right now we’re going to come back to Italy. We have three great shows, the TV shows, our TV show actually…
Piero: “So your family in Bronte can watch us!”
Ignazio: “There is taking a lot of efforts because it’s a complicated show where we are the protagonist. It’s our show. I mean, we’re the owner, and so it’s quite tough!”
Patrick: “Well that sounds fantastic! Thank you all so much! I’m proud of my Italian heritage and to have people like yourself representing Italy in such a wonderful way. Thank you for your time, and we look forward to seeing you at the KeyBank State Theater this Sunday, March 16th. Enjoy your time here in Cleveland, Gentlemen!”
Piero: “Grazie, Patrick”
Ignazio” Grazie!”
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