Hanns-Werner Heister (born 14 June 1946) is a German musicologist.
Born in Plochingen, (Baden-Württemberg), Heister studied musicology, German literature and linguistics in Tübingen, Frankfurt a. M. and Berlin, received his doctorate in 1977 in Berlin on the aesthetics, sociology and history of the institution of the concert and habilitated in 1993 at the University of Oldenburg with studies on music analysis.
From 1971 to 1992 he worked as a freelance music journalist for various radio stations, newspapers and magazines.
After numerous lectureships and guest professorships (e.g. in Berlin, Hamburg, Dresden, Weimar and Vienna) he was professor for historical musicology and music communication in Dresden from 1992 to 1998 and professor for musicology in Hamburg from 1998 until his Emeritus in 2011.
He is co-editor of the encyclopaedia Komponisten der Gegenwart, which has been published as looseleaf service since 1992.