Max Bruch (January 6, 1838 – October 20, 1920) was a German composer and conductor. He is particularly well known for one work (out of over 200), his first violin concerto in G minor, though he actually wrote three. This work was and still is one of the most popular Romantic-era violin concertos and uses several new ideas from Felix Mendelssohn's concerto e.g. linking of movements and doing away with the orchestral exposition and more rigid form that characterises older music.

Other pieces, such as his relatively less popular Scottish Fantasy, also for violin and orchestra, are also still played. He also wrote a piece for cello and orchestra which remains quite popular, Kol Nidrei (based on Hebrew melodies, most notably the melody of the Kol Nidre, which gives the piece its name).

Violinists Joseph Joachim and Willy Hess advised Bruch on composing for strings, and Hess performed the premières of a number of works by Bruch. The Concert Piece for violin and orchestra, op. 84, was composed for Hess.