Sweet Sixteen perform at Rugby World Cup Opening
The Sweet Sixteen of Aorere College, Auckland, were invited to sing “All Lit Up” by Don McGlashan at the height of the Rugby World Cup Opening Ceremony at the Viaduct in Auckland. The choir rehearsed the piece at Aorere College and then with Don McGlashan prior to recording at Neil Finn’s studio in Ponsonby. The Director of the Sweet Sixteen, Douglas Nyce, states “I believe the song may have at least a triple meaning: as a personal love song, as a metaphor for the fireworks and as a metaphor for fans of the All Blacks.”
Choreography was provided by Mike Mizrahi, the Creative Director of the RWC opening.
The Sweet Sixteen was involved in pre-videoing on the top of the HSBC carpark at 1 Queen Street on the Saturday prior, then the performance in red robes on the Friday night the 9th at 8pm. The entire piece composed by McGlashan was more than 11 minutes long and was performed by various artists including the Auckland Philharmonic Orchestra and several soloists performing at the Cloud. This was broadcast live to an estimated world-wide audience of 50-100 million.
