Miriam Cutler

Miriam Cutler is an American composer best known for her documentary film work.

Cutler is a Los Angeles-based film composer, scoring and performing music for over 20 years. She began her musical career as songwriter and clarinet player with The New Miss Alice Stone Ladies Society Orchestra; she then joined the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo as a clarinetist, and later founded the group Swingstreet. Due to her love of jazz, she has co-produced albums by the likes of Joe Williams, Nina Simone, Marlena Shaw, and Shirley Horn. Cutler has served on a number of film festival juries including the first-ever World Cinema Documentary category at Sundance, The Film Independent Spirit Awards, The International Documentary Association Awards, and the AFI Film Festival Awards. She is a long-term board member of the Society of Composers & Lyricists and has served as an advisor in the Sundance Institute's Composers Lab since 2003. She currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Motion Picture Academy Documentary Branch and the Executive Committee of the TV Academy Music Branch.

Cutler has also been the long-time composer for Circus Flora, based in St. Louis, MO.

On June 26, 2013, Cutler was voted into the Documentary Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

In 2014, Cutler co-founded the Alliance for Women Film Composers with Lolita Ritmanis and Laura Karpman. The organization provides visibility and advocacy for women composers.

In 2017, Cutler was inducted into the John Muir High School (Pasadena, CA) distinguished alumni Hall of Fame.