Joseph Maclis (born August 11, 1906 in Riga, Latvia - died October 17, 1998 in New York City, New York, USA) was a Latvian-born American musicologist, author, opera translator and professor.

His family moved to New York City when he was aged 3 and grew up in Brooklyn, where he studied the piano. After winning a scholarship from the Steinway piano company to study in France, he decided not to pursue a concert career and joined the music faculty at Queens College in 1938. After retiring from Queens College in 1973, he taught at the Juilliard School. His 1955 textbook ''The Enjoyment of Music'' is one of the most popular music appreciation books published in English (more than 2 million copies sold). His translation of the libretto of Francis Poulenc’s opera Dialogues of the Carmelites is still used by the Metropolitan Opera.