Walter Kolneder (1 July 1910 – 30 January 1994) was an Austrian musicologist and violist.
From 1925 to 1935 he studied music with Bernhard Paumgartner (conducting), Theodor Müller (violin) and Friedrich Frischenschlager (composition) at the Mozarteum in Salzburg.
He also attended a master class for viola with Max Strub and was a member of the Mozarteum orchestra (1929-1936).
In 1936 he became head of department at the Conservatory of the Musikverein für Steiermark [de] and in 1939 lecturer at the State College for Music Education in Graz-Eggenberg.
In 1956, he qualified as a professor of musicology with a thesis on Antonio Vivaldi at the Saarland University in Saarbrücken, where he became Privatdozent.