About
Carol Kuswanto is an Indonesian composer and pianist based in Los Angeles, California. Born into a musically inclined family, Kuswanto began playing piano at the early age of three and quickly showed remarkable potential in the field of music. Over the years, her work has spanned a wide range of genres, from classical to contemporary film scores.
Recently, she’s had the opportunity to work with composer Siddhartha Khosla and his team, as a piano producer, co-writer, and pianist. Some of the projects include Only Murders in the Building (Hulu), Elsbeth (CBS), Rabbit Hole (Paramount), Welcome to Chippendales (Hulu), and more. Upcoming projects include Skydance Animation film’s Pookoo, Amazon Studios’ Oh. What. Fun, the Dan Fogelman-created Hulu drama Paradise, Netflix’s No Good Deed, and Season 2 of the CBS Drama Elsbeth.
In 2024, Kuswanto had the honor to perform a selection of themes from Only Murders in the Building (OMITB) Season 3’s score at Hulu x Disney’s For Your Consideration Event. She shared the stage with Siddhartha Khosla, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul (La La Land, The Greatest Showman), Mark Shaiman (Hairspray, Sister Act), and David Foster. In September, OMITB received an Emmy in the category Outstanding Music Composition For A Series (Original Dramatic Score).
Other opportunities that she has been honored to have received include co-producing 88rising Joji's popular song "Slow Dancing in the Dark (Acoustic Remix) and working as an additional composer for the film The Climbers, which hit $154.3 million at the Box Office. Her work as a composer can also be heard in the award-winning short film Ruwatan (2019), Wong Fu Productions’ Yappie (2018), Recollection (2018), Alexander at the End of the World (2017), and Guo Guo (2017). She is also involved in podcast shows including her role as an episode coordinator of Score: The Podcast, composer of In My Feels, and the music editor/coordinator of the United States President Joe Biden’s podcast, Here’s The Deal.
She discovered her passion for Film and Media Scoring in her first year at Berklee College of Music. She was awarded the 2016 Barnes and Noble Books and Materials Award to recognize and celebrate those Film Scoring majors who demonstrated measurable potential for succeeding in the art and craft of film scoring, although having taken only a few of the department's courses. She received a Bachelor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music in 2017, graduating Summa Cum Laude with a dual major in Film Scoring and Music Business Management with a minor in Conducting.
As an associate producer at Kraftbox Entertainment, Kuswanto has been collaborating with various filmmakers and handling communication between producers, studio executives, and music talents. Recent projects include a partnership with Quincy Jones Production and Blumhouse TV to produce a series called The Jazz Ambassadors, a live series at The Broad Stage called Cue The Music, featuring Hollywood's top composers, and an untitled Sylvia Robinson film.
Other than composing, Kuswanto has always kept her passion for performing as a pianist and violinist. Some highlights of her performances include performing with award-winning multi-instrumentalist Jacob Collier (which was featured on an Emmy-winning documentary by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), performing with 88rising’s NIKI at their Head in the Clouds Festival tour at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium in 2018, and also being featured on Berklee College of Music's Youtube channel. In the past, she has worked for YouTuber & Award-winning Writer/Producer, Rick Beato.
