Helmuth Rilling (born 29 May 1933) is a German choral conductor and an academic teacher.

He completed his studies with Fernando Germani in Rome and at the Accademia Musicale Chigiana in Siena.

In 1967, he studied with Leonard Bernstein in New York and in the same year was appointed professor of choral conducting at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts, a post that he held until 1985.

Rilling is the first person to have twice prepared and recorded (on modern instruments) the complete choral works of J. S. Bach, a monumental task involving well over 1,000 pieces of music - spanning 170 compact discs.

For Rilling's 75th birthday, his record label Hänssler Classic released his entire Bach edition on iTunes.