Milton Suskind

Milton Suskind, also known by the pseudonym Edgar Fairchild, (June 1, 1898 – February 20, 1975) was an American pianist, composer, songwriter, music arranger, music editor, and conductor. He used his own name as a classical pianist and for his music compositions written in the tradition of Western classical music. He adopted the pseudonym Edgar Fairchild when performing, recording, and composing popular music such as jazz. He began this practice at the Ampico Company where he made piano rolls as a performer and arranger from 1917 through the 1920s in a variety of music genres. His work as a music editor at Ampico was equally diverse with his role as music editor extending from overseeing the Ampico rolls of classical pianist and composer Sergei Rachmaninoff and those made by jazz musician Eubie Blake. Suskind wrote the score to the Broadway musical Florida Girl (1925), and was a contributing composer to the Broadway shows The New Yorkers (1927) and The Illustrators’ Show (1936). He also worked as the pianist in the pit orchestras of several Broadway shows; sometimes in piano duos which led to him forming music partnerships with first pianist Ralph Rainger in the 1920s and later Ada