DEARBORN — When the Italian teen singing trio Il Volo performs Oct.16 at the Fox Theater in Detroit, it will be the culmination of more than a year of hard work for Anthony Rugiero.
Rugiero, president of Antonio’s Cucina Italiana in Dearborn Heights, Farmington Hills and Canton, said the idea came to him in 2010 when he awoke in the middle of the night with an idea to do a special benefit concert. After making commitments to University of Detroit Mercy Voterra International Residential College, Italian Language Inter-Culture Alliance, and Boys and Girls Town of Italy, Rugiero was faced with the task of raising money for the event.
Again, in the middle of the night, Rugiero said the idea came to him to invite Il Volo — Piero Barone, 17; Ignazio Boschetto, 16; and Gianluca Ginoble, 16 — to perform. Discussions between Rugiero’s agent, Pino Marelli, and the group’s management team of Toni Reni and Michele Torpedine quickly resulted in Il Volo’s appearance.
Rugiero wanted more than just a concert, so he arranged with Il Volo to provide guests the opportunity to meet the artists at a VIP Encore Benefit Dinner and have special concert tickets. The concert at the Fox will be followed by the dinner at the Detroit Opera House.
“We are pleased that the Il Volo boys have chosen Detroit as one of their stops and have put their support behind this benefit dinner,” Rugiero said. “I have been working for many months to bring them to our city so they can energize young people to classical pop music. I am happy to also have supporting me many of our Italian business leaders including Tom Celani and Anthony Soave.
“Il Volo’s visit will be treated by the Italian community with the same admiration as when Detroit was host to the Three Tenors and the many visits of the great Luciano Pavorotti and Andrea Bocelli, who considered The Detroit Opera House their home. There is so much good to celebrate in Detroit.”
Il Volo’s first release in Italy has gone platinum, and recently was released in the United States. The group members are opera tenors who made their debut in Italy, in May 2009 on an Italian talent show, singing “O Sole Mio.”
Tickets to the concert and benefit dinner are $250, and are available at www.antoniosrestaurants.com/site/events. Tickets include a pre-reception at Detroit Opera House at 2 p.m., free shuttle to the Fox, concert at 4 p.m., shuttle back to Detroit Opera House, and benefit dinner and meet-and-greet at 6:30 p.m.
For more information, call (313) 590-7493 or email [email protected]