Louis Applebaum; Canadian Conductor, Composer

Louis Applebaum, 82, prolific Canadian composer long associated with the Stratford Festival who also wrote extensively for the National Film Board. Born in Toronto, Applebaum studied at the University of Toronto before moving to New York to study music. Returning to Canada five years later, Applebaum became staff composer and later music director of the National Film Board. His score for “The Story of G.I. Joe” was nominated for an Academy Award. In 1953, Applebaum became musical director of the Shakespearean Festival at Stratford, Ontario. Over the next 20 years, he composed scores for 28 productions and conducted many festival opera and operetta presentations. In 1971, he was appointed executive director of the Province of Ontario Council for the Arts. His last work for Stratford came in 1999, when he composed music for a production of “The School for Scandal.” During his prolific career, he scored more than 200 films, more than 200 television productions and more than 75 dramatic productions at Stratford. On Thursday of cancer in Toronto.