Minute by the Lord Mayor
To Council:
I wish to inform Council of the passing of
former New Year’s Eve Creative Director, Ignatius Jones AM on 7 May 2024 in
Manila, Philippines.
Ignatius was born Juan Ignacio Rafaelo
Lorenzo Trápaga y Esteban on 24 October 1957 to Basque-Chinese father, Nestor
Juan Trápaga, and a Catalan-American mother, Margot in Singalong, Manila,
Philippines. Two brothers followed. In 1963, the family migrated to Australia.
His sister Monica, later an entertainer and Play School presenter, was born two
years later.
After completing his high school education at
St Ignatius' College, Riverview, several careers followed.
Ignatius initially attracted attention as
founding member and lead singer of “shock rock” band Jimmy and the Boys formed
in 1976. Involvement with other bands followed, including Pardon me Boys, a
short-lived Australian swing jazz-cabaret band he formed with his sister
Monica.
His experience with Australia’s live music
scene led him to journalism, initially writing for R.A.M (Rock Australia
Magazine), The Edge and Stiletto, a pop culture and fashion magazine, which he
also edited.
His career further expanded in the 1980s and
1990s, working as an actor in film and television, an onscreen reporter and
interviewer for SVS-TV’s Culture Shock, writing two books, ‘True Hip’ and the
1992 ‘True Hip Manual’ and directing children’s videos featuring his sister
Monica and her band, Monica and the Moochers.
In the late 1990s, he devised the Olympic
Journey Begins, a roadshow leading up to the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It visited
27 cities and towns reaching audiences totalling three million people.
In 1996, he was appointed the City’s New
Year’s Eve Creative Director, a position he held until 2002. The Sydney Morning
Herald credited him with transforming the final night of the year into the
biggest annual event in Australia and an international pyrotechnic
benchmark. He devised spectacular
effects using the Harbour Bridge, including the giant Eternity sign and the
Harbour of Light Marine Lantern Parade with designer Peter England.
In 2001, the City received a formal request
from East Timor’s Minister for External Affairs and Information, Dr Jose Ramos
Horta seeking help with their Independence celebrations in May 2002.
On 11 February 2002, Council unanimously
agreed to contribute to $90,716 to the East Timor Independence Celebrations.
This contribution enabled Ignatius and New Year's Eve Production Manager, Ed
Wilkinson to travel to East Timor to devise and stage this historically
significant event. It was a rare instance of a creative practitioner directing
the “opening night of a country”.
Ignatius continued to work on major events in
Australia and overseas, including directing ceremonies for the 2002 Sydney Gay
Games, the Doha 2006 Asian Games and the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
He was creative director of Vivid Sydney from
2011 to 2019 and artistic director of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras
Parades between 2011 and 2015.
Ignatius’ contribution has been recognised
with many awards. He shared in the inaugural Helpmann Award in 2001 for Best
Event - 2000 Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremonies and the 2003 Sydney Star
Observer Pride Week Award for his work on the Sydney Gay Games Opening
Ceremony.
He was honoured with the Filipino-Australian
of the Year Award 2014 by the Filipino Communities Council of Australia, a
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017 at the Australian Event Awards and in 2019
he was appointed Member of the Order of Australia "for significant service
to entertainment as a writer, director, author and performer."
In October 2018, Ignatius married his
long-time partner, Novy Bereber, retiring to live with him in the Philippines
in 2022.
When Ignatius greeted the audience of 38,000
at the 2002 Gay Games Opening Ceremony he said: “Australia and the gay and
lesbian community is not so much a melting pot ... We are more of a mixed
salad, where every part remains separate, yet adds to the wonder of the whole
... I have been lucky, I have never had to come out, I was never in.”
COUNCILLOR CLOVER MOORE AO
Lord Mayor
Moved by the Chair (the Lord Mayor), seconded by Councillor
Worling –
It is resolved that:
(A)
all
persons attending this meeting of Council observe one minute's silence to
commemorate the life of Ignatius Jones AM and his significant contribution to
Sydney's and Australia's cultural life and events industry;
(B)
Council
express its condolences to Ignatius Jones' family; and
(C)
the
Lord Mayor be requested to convey Council's condolences to Ignatius' husband,
Novy Bereber, his mother, Margot Martin, his brother Luis Miguel and his
sisters, Rocio and Monica.
Carried unanimously.
S051491
Note – All Councillors, staff and members of the public
present stood in silence for one minute as a mark of respect to Ignatius Jones
AM.