By Violi Calvert

Perhaps his parents had that sixth sense to see an artistic genius when their baby boy was born in 1957 in Manila that they named him Juan Ignacio ( meaning fiery , ignite ).

At age six , Juan Ignacio Esteban Trapaga would join father Nestor , mother Margot and younger siblings when the family migrated to Australia . Here he would adopt the stage name ‘ Ignatius Jones ’ for which he has become well-known not only in Australia but around the world .

BRILLIANCE IN LIVE AUSTRALIAN EVENTS

In 2011 , Ignatius became the Executive Producer of the Vivid Sydney Festival which under his direction drew a record increase of attendance from 200,000 to 350,000 . At the close of Vivid Festival that year , NSW deputy premier Andrew Stoner said that " up to $ 10 million in economic activity would have been generated for the state " and that " after teething problems in its first two years , this festival of light , music and ideas , has finally found its feet ". The UK influential newspaper , The Guardian , declared Vivid Sydney as one of the world ’ s top ten ideas festivals

Ignatius continued on as Vivid creative lead in 2012 , which achieved crowds estimated to be over 550,000 . The following year ' s attendance increased to 850,000 , with the festival winning the 2013 Australian Event for Best Tourism Event and Australian Event of Year 2013 . In 2014 , it again won the Best Tourism Event and the year ’ s ‘ Best Major Event ’ in the Helpmann Award – the Australian equivalent of the Oscars . For the third time in 2015 , Vivid Sydney again bagged the Best Tourism Event award . Vivid Sydney 2016 smashed previous attendance records . Minister for Trade , Tourism and Major Events Stuart Ayres reported that " more than 2.3 million people attended the world ' s biggest festival of light , music and ideas

- an increase of 35.4 per cent on last year ' s attendance of 1.7 million ."

In an interview in Radio Tagumpay [ Triple H 100.1FM ] last month , Ignatius spoke of the evolution of the light and music shown in Vivid Sydney as going beyond being purely an entertainment event .

" We work in a bit of education , inspiration and make people think . Recently , the event also highlights the beauty of the Aboriginal heritage . It is also about bringing the people together ,” he said .

“ Unlike other places of melting pot , I ' d like to think that we are like a tossed salad with distinct cultural backgrounds but we are bound together by the dressing of acceptance , democracy and care for each other ."

Ignatius ' creative ingenuity is also behind the Sydney Mardi Gras Parade being its Artistic Director for the last five years . He was given the Sydney Mardi Gras Lifetime Achievement Award and the Sydney Mardi Gras CEO ' s Award for Services to the Community in 2014 .

Among his various achievements , Ignatius also relishes being declared the ‘ 2014 Filipino-Australian of the Year ’ by the Filipino Council of Community Associations ( FILCAA ). The FILCAA Award first and foremost recognised his role and achievements in Vivid Sydney .

Other huge events in Australian history that benefited from Ignatius ' creative brilliance include the giant light sculpture Eternity on the Sydney Harbour Bridge ; the lighting up of the Olympic Rings on the Sydney Harbour Bridge as part of the Olympics Closing Ceremony finale ; the centre of Sydney ' s tribute to Australia ' s 100th birthday , the indigenous Rainbow Serpent circling the Federation Star ; the animated vision of Uluru surmounted by the Dove of Peace , which is a light sculpture that used more than 11kms of rope light .

As artistic director of Sydney ' s New Year ' s Eve celebrations from 1997 to 2002 , he was responsible for the transformation of the event into the biggest annual event in Australia beamed

to billions of viewers around the world . Another large and innovative project , the Man from Snowy River - The Arena Spectacular was written devised and directed by Ignatius in collaboration with his Olympics colleague , David Atkins . This show boasts a cast of over 250 people , 47 horses , two dogs and a wedge-tailed eagle becoming the largest commercial theatre event in Australian history ; the first such ' arena ' event to be completely Australian in conception and execution , its soundtrack receiving an ARIA Award for Best Soundtrack Album 2002 .

Ignatius also directed the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Sydney 2002 Gay Games , the sixth international Gay Games . For this , he received the 2003 Sydney Star Observer Pride Week Award for Best Event . He also received the Sydney ' s Gay & Lesbian Business Association ' s inaugural award for Most Eminent Businessperson for Services to the Community .

SHINING ACROSS THE SHORES Ignatius ' sheer brilliance has also been celebrated in events overseas . He is one of the few creative people to direct the " opening night of a country ” staging the Independence Ceremonies of the Democratic Republic of East Timor in 2002 upon the invitation of Nobel Laureate Jose Ramos-Horta and then- President-elect Xanana Gusmao . This historic event was attended by 175,000 people and over 40 world leaders .

Other major events directed by Ignatius overseas include the Opening Ceremony of World Expo 2010 Shanghai and the Ceremonies

of Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games . The Vancouver Opening Ceremony won three Emmy Awards for Best Direction , Best Lighting and Best Music .

He was also artistic director of the Ceremonies of the 2006 Asian Games in Doha , Qatar . The Asian Games is the largest sporting event after the Summer Olympics watched by an estimated 3 billion people around the world . The ceremonies featured the largest LED screen ever attempted and at the time was the largest lighting device in history . The Doha world ' s first " kinetic " cauldron weighed more than 18 double-decker buses .

The largest corporate event of its kind in the Middle East also engaged Ignatius ' legendary creative expertise . He produced the Jeddah Economic Forum in Saudi Arabia in 2005 .

GLITTERING ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN AREAS OTHER THAN EVENTS Prior to Ignatius ' celebrated achievements in major events , he was already well known in the Australian entertainment industry . After being trained in classical ballet , he made a mark in other fields such as rock music [ being the front man of the shock rock band Jimmy & The Boys ], jazz , journalism , theatre and television . He was a singer , dancer , director and writer whose credentials include Gold Album awards , two best-selling books and a Platinum Record for his work on the soundtrack of Strictly Ballroom . His work as TV director earned him two Platinum Awards for the children ' s

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