Brian Dunning (born January 1952) is an Irish flautist and composer, largely known for being a member of the Celtic band Nightnoise. He had both Celtic and jazz influences early on. He studied jazz and classical music, and is a former student of James Galway. He studied at the Berklee College of Music in 1977.
Dunning played the flute and panpipe in Puck Fair, a primarily instrumental "Irish jazz" group formed in New York in 1984 that played traditional Irish songs and original compositions. They released the album Fairplay on the Lost Lake Arts/Windham Hill label in 1987, with Dunning on flute and drummer Tommy Hayes on bodhran, joined by various musicians including Mícheál Ó Domhnaill. The group was later reformed in Dublin with Dunning, guitarist Sean Whelan, and percussionist Robbie Harris, releasing the album Forgotten Carnival on their own label in 2008.
Dunning has also collaborated with keyboardist Jeff Johnson since the late 1980s, recording several albums together, including Songs from Albion (1992), The Music of Celtic Legends – the Bard and the Warrior (1997), Byzantium (2000), and Patrick (2004).
He can be heard on the soundtrack to Gangs of New York, Windhorse, and The Outcasts.