Ralph P. Locke (born 1949) is an American music researcher and professor emeritus of musicology at Eastman School of Music in New York. He one of the most well known classical music critics in the United States. He founded the "Eastman Studies in Music" series. He is a contributor to "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians" and several other books, and has been editor of several journals. He is also "one of the most published musicologists on orientalism and music." Locke earned his bachelor's degree at Harvard University and his doctorate at the University of Chicago.