Miriam Sturm (AHS, 1977)
Miriam Sturm is a musician, violinist & composer, born & raised in Ohio. She began attending
FH Schools halfway through her first grade year, all the way to graduating AHS Class of 1977;
Wilson & Summit Elementary Schools, Anderson Middle & High Schools. She shared role of
Senior Soloist for her graduating class with classmate & violist Wendy VanderMolen. After high
school, she attended Indiana University School of Music where she studied violin with world-
renowned professor Josef Gingold.
During her college years, she was part of the formation of a folk/fusion trio called
Eclectricity, based in Bloomington, IN. They recorded 2 albums, toured extensively throughout
the US & Canada, and were often heard on NPR stations & college radio.
It was in 1988 that Miriam moved to Chicago, IL where she still resides today. She
began a long, illustrious period of composing music for theater, some two dozen plays in eight
years. Sometimes she composed only, not appearing onstage; other times she both
composed & appeared as a costumed onstage musician. Seven of her play scores were
nominated for Chicago’s prestigious Joseph Jefferson Awards for Original Music, and she won
that award in 1993 for her score for Black Snow. Touring theatrical productions took Miriam to
London, England, California and twice to Broadway (NYC). As part of the cast of The Grapes
of Wrath in 1990, she was present when it was awarded two Tony Awards. In 1994, she
composed music for a Broadway production of the 50th anniversary of Tennessee Williams’
masterwork The Glass Menagerie. More recently, in 2023 she composed music for a
production of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre.
After having previously recorded a bit for John Mellencamp, she was asked to perform
with him full-time starting in Spring of 1996~~and that became 25 years of touring, recording
and promotional appearances on television & radio. Every JM album & tour from 1996 until
2022 included Miriam. They toured all across the US and Canada, as well as Europe, Australia
& New Zealand. She was present when Mellencamp & his band were inducted into the Rock &
Roll Hall of Fame in 2008. She was Mellencamp’s violinist from 1996 until she resigned from
the band in 2021 to focus on
