Louis Applebaum

Louis Applebaum (Toronto, 1918 – Toronto, 2000) was a Canadian composer who, alongside writing music, devoted much of his life to organising and improving the conditions of musical life in his country. His dual vocation, artistic and social, made him an influential figure in almost every sphere of music in Canada.

He trained as a pianist and in theory and composition with several Canadian teachers, and completed his studies in New York between 1940 and 1941 under Roy Harris and Bernard Wagenaar. For eight years he worked for the National Film Board of Canada, where he composed some 250 film scores. It was during this period that he began to concern himself with the economic situation of professional musicians in the country.

In the 1960s he advised the CBC television network and chaired the planning committee of the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. His 1965 proposal for the musical development of the capital region helped drive the creation of the National Arts Centre Orchestra and the music department of the University of Ottawa. In the following decades he directed the Ontario Arts Council and, in 1980, co-chaired the Federal Cultural Policy Review Committee.

As a composer, he wrote incidental music for more than fifty productions at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival (Ontario) and, in 1955, founded its musical wing, focused on concerts, opera workshops and conferences. His legacy also includes ballets, music for film and television, and numerous instrumental and vocal works, recognised with the Centennial Medal and the Order of Canada.