Performing their rendition of Ave Maria Mater Misericordiaè for Pope Francis at the World Youth Day in Panama earlier this year has been the highlight of their career so far, Il Volo said.

The talented trio, Ignazio Boschetto, Gianluca Ginoble and Piero Barone, are hot on the heels of a particularly industrious year, following up their papal performance with a turn at the 69th Sanremo Music festival just a month later. They placed third in the festival with the song Musica che resta.

“It’s a great joy and honour for us to be here,” Mr Ginoble said on returning to perform in Malta for the third time.

“We’re celebrating 10 years of our career with you.” The trio first got their start in 2009 on the Italian competitive variety show Ti lascio una canzone, where they were first paired together during the course of the program.

To celebrate a decade of friendship and making music together, Il Volo have released a new album, Musica, that reflects their musical tastes and influences. The record will include the track Musica che resta as well as two previously unreleased works: Fino a quando fa bene and Vincissimo.

Their world tour, also titled Musica, will kick off its global leg following their Malta concert on Friday evening. The boys will be touring much of Eastern Europe and Latin America, with stops in Finland and Israel to boot.

“Every concert is another celebration," Mr Boschetto said. “We’re grateful to the Maltese public for their support and anticipate a lot of emotions this evening.”

“We are thankful to every single person who has helped us along the way,” Mr Barone said.