Australian music legend and events director Ignatius Jones dies
Australian entertainment legend Ignatius Jones has died in the Philippines aged 67.
The performer, writer and event director passed away peacefully in Iloilo City after a short illness at 9.30pm yesterday, his sister and former Play School presenter Monica Trapaga announced.
“Iggy has immense creative energy and spent over 50 years contributing to the arts, both in Australia and internationally,” Trapaga wrote.
“He was one of the world’s leading event directors, devisors and designers.”
Born Juan Ignacio Trapaga, he was known professionally as Ignatius Jones and first achieved success in the shock rock band Jimmy and the Boys.
He later formed the swing band Pardon Me Boys, which featured his sister Trapaga.
“His friends and family will remember Iggy as a bon-vivant, a lively raconteur and a real Renaissance man, immensely and passionately knowledgeable in history and arts,” she wrote.
“The arts community in Australia has lost a champion and dinner parties will be less interesting with his passing.
“He is survived by his husband Novy, his mother Margot Martin, his brother Luis Miguel, sisters Rocio and Monica and a gaggle of nieces and nephews.”
The performer was born in the Philippines in 1957 before the family moved to Wahroonga in Sydney.
He spent six years as the director of the Sydney New Year’s Eve celebrations from 1996 to 2002 and personally directed the City of Sydney’s Millennium Celebrations.
He was involved in the Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony as an artistic director and the Harbour Spectacular closing ceremony as well as the City of Sydney’s New Year’s Eve and Centenary of Federation Celebrations.
Further afield, he directed productions for Dolly Parton in Tennessee and staged the Independence Ceremonies of East Timor in May 2002.
He co-directed the ceremonies at the Doha 2006 Asian Games, the opening ceremony of the Shanghai 2010 World Expo and the ceremonies of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
He was the creative director of Vivid Sydney from 2011 to 2019 and was the artistic director of the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade from 2011 to 2015.
For his service to entertainment and literature, he was awarded full membership of the Order of Australia by Queen Elizabeth II.