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Cathy Applegate grew up in Melbourne and was fortunate to have a family and an educational environment that fostered a great love of the arts. She studied piano and music theory with private teachers to an advanced level during her school years.

After leaving school, Applegate studied medicine at Monash University and now works part-time in General Practice. Literature and music have always remained central passions in her life. She completed a Bachelor of Music in 2024 and is now undertaking a Master's degree through the University of New England.

In 1982, the call of the warmth and vibrancy of the tropics led to a move to Darwin in Australia's far north. Applegate plays cello with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra and, over the years, has been actively involved in the lively Darwin chamber music scene. She has had many opportunities to have her compositions performed in Darwin, including by the Darwin Symphony Orchestra, chamber and chorale groups.

Applegate's first major work was The Wetlands Suite, composed for the Darwin Youth Orchestra and Centre for Youth Music singers, CDU. The work was first performed in Darwin in November 1997, and later that month for the Tiwi Aboriginal people at Bathurst Island. The work has also had several performances by the Darwin Symphony Orchestra, and the DSO recorded the Suite in 1999.

In 1998, The Wetlands Suite for the Darwin Youth Orchestra received an Honourable Mention in the CACS National Awards for 'An Outstanding Contribution to Australian Culture'.

Applegate has written two full-length musicals (libretto and score): Felicity and the Bunyip (2000), and A Gecko's Tale (2004). The latter is a musical satire dealing with issues surrounding refugees and asylum seekers. The Charles Darwin University premiered both to great acclaim. Many of the songs from these musicals have been performed again.

In September 2009, her work WindRose was performed by the DSO. This is a 35-minute work commissioned by the DSO and is based on an edited version of the epic poem by poet/artist Magda Palmer. WindRose qualifies for the broadest definitions of opera and includes dramatic narration and song. The premiere performance was directed by Kathy Banks and conducted by Dr Martin Jarvis. Aerial puppetry was used effectively as part of the performance.

Applegate has had a work for orchestra and narrator, Fourteen Lines, performed by the DSO in Alice Springs and in Darwin under the baton of Dr Leif Sundstrup. This is a 10-minute suite inspired by seven of Shakespeare's sonnets. The sonnets were chosen by the then administrator of the Northern Territory, His Honour Tom Pauling, who also read the sonnets for the concerts. Smaller ensemble versions of several of the sonnets are also available.

In March 2015, her Piano Concertantrum was premiered by the DSO with the virtuoso, Michael Kieran Harvey as the soloist. This work is a 25-minute concerto in three movements, written for Michael Kieran Harvey and commissioned by Mrs Lesley Dugdale.

Applegate was the concert convenor for the Australian Doctors' Orchestra's debut concert in Darwin in June 2016. This is an orchestra with about 100 members, so it was a massive undertaking. Over $20,000 was raised for a local charity. Applegate composed a work that functioned as an overture for the event - it takes its name from a neurological term meaning difficulty with rapidly repeated movements: Dysdiadochokinesis.

Saudades, a major piano work in three movements and commissioned by pianist James Teh, was premiered in October 2016 at Charles Darwin University.

The ballet The Brolga and the Star was premiered to much acclaim in Darwin in November 2016 with a live orchestra conducted by Martin Jarvis.

Her compositional styles are eclectic. Applegate has composed numerous other works for individual soloists and ensembles. She has also increasingly been involved in arranging and transcribing musical works. Several of her compositions have been performed in Asia and in Europe.

Applegate is the current Chair and Coordinator for Orchestra Legato. This organisation runs an annual three-day event for youth, bringing young orchestral musicians together from across the Northern Territory. Applegate has been instrumental in mentoring several young composers, enabling them to hear their new works performed by their peers. She also arranges orchestral works for this orchestra, customising the scores to the players.

Applegate, in her capacity as an author, has had children's novels and picture books published in Australia and the United States. Her picture book, Rain Dance, was shortlisted in the Children's Book Council Awards for Picture Book of the Year in 2001. Her novel Red Sand, Blue Sky has been reprinted many times and has been used as part of school and university curricula.

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Cathy Applegate — current to November 2025