Female Film Composers

Shirley Walker

There are plenty of females in film scoring.  From great session musicians like violinist Belinda Broughton and harpist Gayle Levant, vocalist and score contributor Lisbeth Scott, music preparer JoAnn Kane, to the ever-present music contractors Isobel Griffiths and Sandy DeCrescent, there are tons of of examples. 

Women in the Hollywood Studio Symphony for Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) - photo by Maria Giacchino 

Unfortunately, the common listener or moviegoer has probably heard of a small fraction of female composers.  I wanted to list a few of a few well known names and a few that should be more well known.     

Rachel Portman

Lesley Barber
Mansfield Park (1999), You Can Count on Me (2000), Seven Little Monsters (TV 2000), The Moth Diaries (2011)
Additional Music: Kit Kittredge: An American Girl (2008)

Wendy Carlos
A Clockwork Orange (1972), The Shining (1980), TRON (1982)

Andrea Datzman
UnderCovers (TV), Alcatraz (TV), Let Me In (additional)
Score Coordinator/Assistant/Orchestrator: Alias, Lost, Mission Impossible III (2006), Ratatouille (2007), Up (2009), Star Trek (2009), John Carter (2012)

Anne Dudley
Say Anything... (1989), The Crying Game (1992), The Full Monty* (1997), American History X (1998), A Man Apart (2003), Tristan + Isolde (2006), additional music/orchestrator Les Miserables (2012)
*Academy Award winner

Lisa Gerrard
The Insider (1999) with Pieter Bourke, Gladiator (2000) with Hans Zimmer,  Ali (2001) with Pieter Bourke, Whale Rider (2002), Tears of the Sun (2003) with Hans Zimmer, Layer Cake (2004) with Ilan Eshkeri, Balibo (2009), Priest (2011) with Christopher Young

Laura Karpman
Taken (TV 2002), Odyssey 5 (2002-03), Everquest II (Video Game 2006), A Monkey’s Tale (2006), Kung Fu Panda 2 (Video Game 2011)

Deborah Lurie
An Unfinished Life (2005), Mozart and the Whale (2005), 9 (2009), Dear John (2010), Footloose (2011), One for the Money (2012)
Additional Music: Spider-Man 2 (2004), Spider-Man 3 (2007), Wanted (2008)

Yvonne Suzette Moriarty
Orchestrator: Speed, The Lion King, Antz, Gladiator, Shrek, The Last Samurai, Pirates of the Carribean, Transformers, The Dark Knight

Angela Morley (1924-2009)
Captain Nemo and the Underwater City (1969), Watership Down (1978), Dynasty (TV), Dallas (TV)
Uncredited additional orchestrator: The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes (1970), Star Wars (1977), Superman (1978), Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980), E.T. (1982), The Verdict (1982), The Right Stuff (1983), The Karate Kid (1984), Home Alone (1990), Hook (1991), Schindler's List (1993)

Rachel Portman
The Joy Luck Club (1993), Emma (1996)*, The Cider House Rules (1999), Chocolat (2000), Mona Lisa Smile (2003), Never Let Me Go (2010)
*Academy Award winner

Pinar Toprak
Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil (2006), Breaking Point (2009), The River Murders (2011), The Wind Gods (2011), Skydance Productions Logo (2012)

Shirley Walker (1945-2006)
White Fang (1991), Batman the Animated Series (1992-1995), Space: Above and Beyond (1995-1996), Escape from L.A. (1996), Final Destination (2000), Final Destination 2 (2003), Final Destination 3 (2006)
Conductor/Orchestrator: Scrooged (1988), Batman (1989), Days of Thunder (1990), Edward Scissorhands (1990), Backdraft (1991), Toys (1992), True Lies (1994) 

Debbie Wiseman
Tom and Viv (1994), Wilde (1997), Warriors (1999), Arsene Lupin (2004), Flood (2007)