Jess Ciampa: A Life in Music

Jess Ciampa is a bit of a legend. As a percussionist, bass player, singer and drummer who trained at the Sydney Conservatorium, he is as at home playing in concert halls with symphony orchestras as he is playing on stage for a musical. Or in headphones in a recording studio. Or in a stadium for a rock band. Or, for that matter, in front of a crowd of 10 year olds in a school hall in rural Australia.  

Earlier this year, Jess hung up his Musica Viva Australia In Schools hat after more than 30 years performing live music for students in Australia and beyond. But that doesn’t mean he’s retiring.  

‘I can't really see myself stopping,’ he says. ‘I've never done anything but play.’  

Jess is currently doing 8 shows a week at Sydney’s Capitol Theatre in The Lion King.  

‘It's going to be two years of work. I'll be off to Brisbane in November, then Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, and there's talk of Asia.’ 

How does he cope with playing the show for such a long run? 

‘It drives some people crazy, doing the same thing eight times a week, but I've been lucky — the shows I've done, I've always been in view of the audience. With The Lion King I lock into the audience's energy and enthusiasm, and it really drives me. There are these incredible puppets — people on stilts being giraffes, and a full-size elephant – which come down the aisle. In that opening sequence there are people in tears every show, it’s so moving. I spend the whole show watching kids in awe, and watching their parents and grandparents watching them. I love it.’ 

It’s the same energy that powers his work performing for schools.  

‘With Imbosima [one of Jess’s MVAIS ensembles] we played the same show for thirteen years, and people said, "How can you do that?" I said, "Well, it's fresh for the audience every time — they've never seen it before, so you lock into the energy of the kids and the teachers, and away you go. You find that energy and it feeds you.’ 

Jess has performed with a huge range of ensembles and artists during his time with Musica Viva Australia In Schools, but it all started in the mid-80s, when he was still at the Con. He was studying with Michael Askill, who was at the time principal percussionist for Sydney Symphony Orchestra, and soon to be founder of Synergy Percussion. Askill asked Jess to fill in for him during an early MVAIS tour with Southern Crossings, a jazz / world music band also featuring Australian music legends Michael Atherton and John Napier.  

Jess ended up joining Southern Crossings, playing as a quartet for more than a decade, travelling all over the world, representing Australia at trade events.  

‘We were the darlings of DFAT’, he says with a smile. ‘Whenever there was some trade thing happening overseas they'd ring Musica Viva, and the wonderful Trish Ludgate would say, "Well, you need Southern Crossings." So we got to go to maybe thirty different countries — Italy, Jamaica, India, all these amazing tours.’  

Jess cherishes his time touring with Askill, Atherton and Napier, watching them play at close quarters. 

‘You become a better musician by playing with better musicians, and that was certainly true for me, watching these incredible players. I also played with Mara [Mara Kiek, who still performs for MVAIS in Music in My Suitcase]. Again, watching them perform, you see the calibre of musicianship is very high. 

‘We always talk about the two arms of Musica Viva, the chamber music side and the school-show side, but these are people who'd easily be at home touring the world playing chamber music, at a wonderfully high level of musicianship.’ 

Jess Ciampa’s final year with Musica Viva Australia coincides with its 45th anniversary since the program began in 1982. As he gets ready to head off to a matinee performance of The Lion King Jess recalls the words of his music education hero, the late Richard Gill, who was involved in the early days, developing shows and training musicians. 

I always remember Richard saying, "No matter how tired you are, at the end of the week or whatever, you've got to remember you may change lives in that show. Even if you just touch one kid's life and open up their world, then you've validated your work." 

For 45 years, Musica Viva Australia In Schools has brought live music to students across Australia. Discover more about our education programs and the musicians who make them possible.