Brian Dunning (born January 1969) 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 percussinoist Robbie Harris, releasing the album Forgotten Carnival on their own label in 2008.