Detroit is never just another stop on a tour for the three members of the operatic group Il Volo.

“In every single show, we always talk about Detroit,” Spinto tenor Piero Barone says via Zoom. “It was where we did our first PBS special (‘Il Volo … Takes Flight: Live From the Detroit Opera House,’ 2011), and I think that was the beginning of our professional journey in the States. So we need to talk about Detroit because that was the beginning.”

Back then, Barone and his partners — lyric tenor Ignazio Boschetto and lyric baritone Gianluca Ginoble — were teenagers, having formed in their native Italy after all three appeared on a TV singing competition in 2009. Now they’re in their early 30s, with more than 10 studio albums to their credit, including two Christmas sets and tributes to the Three Tenors and composer Ennio Morricone. Il Volo also represented Italy at the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest.

And, they say, much has changed, in every way, during the 15 years since that Detroit Opera House appearance.

“Now we have more knowledge about this music, and this world and how it works also — the routine of the tour, everything,” says Boschetto, 31. “We’ve got more experience, so we are living with a different consciousness.”

The Italian operatic group Il Volo recorded its first PBS special in Detroit in 2011 and loves returning to the area.

Ginoble, 31, adds that the trio has become particularly adept at singing arias, as well as developing a better understanding of how their voices integrate in the overall arrangements of the compositions.

“All the experiments an artist can do in their career to learn to know himself in a better way,” he explains. “We’ve done many things. Now, after almost 20 years, we really understand our strength.”

Il Volo’s current world tour is booked until late 2027, after which the trio is slated to start working on its next album and also hatch plans for a 20th-anniversary celebration. In the meantime, the three are also relishing their second experience singing for a pontiff, most recently in front of Pope Leo XIV last August during the Catholic Jubilee celebration in Rome.

“That was a great experience,” says Barone, 32. “This American Pope is the coolest one. The Cardinal next to the Pope says, ‘These guys are Il Volo,’ and he says, ‘Oh, I know them real well.’ He knew who we were! That was a thrill.”

Il Volo performs at 8 p.m. Friday, May 1, at the Fox Theatre, 2211 Woodward Ave., Detroit. 313-471-7000 or 313Presents.com.

Other music events of note this weekend (all subject to change) include …