Trio sing for Queen, country

Sol3 Mio have been nominated in four categories at the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards.

Sol3 Mio home for music awards after royal performance

A week after performing for British royalty, Sol3 Mio are back in the country for a night with New Zealand's music royalty.

Last week, the opera trio performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London as part of the Festival of Remembrance.

They sang the Invictus Games anthem in front of an audience including the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

The Auckland trio, made up of Amitai and Pene Pati and Moses Mackay, performed alongside Joss Stone, Jeff Beck and Jim Radford.

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Amitai said it was a rush performing in the prestigious venue before the royal family.

"Who would've thought," he said.

"It was pretty crazy getting out on stage and knowing that [the Queen] was there. We got good applause from the crowd, and she started clapping as well. As soon as we finished our song we turned to her box and bowed to her."

The trio are making a brief stop back in New Zealand where they will attend the Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards tomorrow at Vector Arena. Sol3 Mio are nominated for four awards, and will perform at the ceremony.

Pati said awards ceremonies can be nerve-wracking, especially as a performer. "We'll just treat it as another show and try to relax a bit," he said. "I'm excited to see Broods, because I've heard a lot about them, but because we're always overseas I haven't managed to hear much of their music."

Sol3 Mio are up against big artists like Lorde and the Naked and Famous for Album of the Year. They're also up for Breakthrough Artist of the Year, Best Group and the People's Choice Award.

They've already won a Tui for Best Pacific Music and last year, Sol3 Mio's self-titled album was the best-selling album in New Zealand.

Pati said the group had focused their energy this year on performing in the UK ahead of their album release there at the end of this week.

They will fly back to the UK this weekend, and head to Twickenham, where they will sing Samoa's national anthem when Manu Samoa takes on England.