Edwin A. Finckel (23 December 1917 – 7 May 2001) was an American jazz performer and arranger and a composer of songs and classical music.

He didn't give up his interest in art but he also found access to a piano and within a year he had taught himself to play, albeit unconventionally and without the ability to read music.

[2] He was appearing professionally as a teenager and he went on to introduce string instruments into his arrangement for big bands.

At the school, he gave private lessons, conducted the choir and orchestra, and wrote much of the music that the children sing every morning and at special events.

His son David is a professional cellist who performed and recorded his father's composition for piano and cello Of Human Kindness with his wife Wu Han.