James R. Low; Composer, Music Director, Accompanist

James R. Low, 65, a composer, music director and accompanist who served as coach and pianist for the old Los Angeles Opera Co. during the 1960s. He was long involved in the opera and music scene at USC and for 20 years was music director for Santa Monica Symphonies-by-the-Sea, Mt. San Jacinto College and Pacific West Coast Opera Co. He also taught at UCLA and for more than 25 years was the official accompanist for the Metropolitan Opera Auditions, Western Region, and for the San Francisco Opera’s Merola Auditions. He had recently completed his fourth opera and was at work on a fifth. His first, “Moby Dick,” was performed in 1955 at Idyllwild and revised in 1982 in Santa Monica. In Hollywood on Aug. 16 of a heart attack.