William Bender

William Bender (May 30, 1930 – May 4, 2014) was an American music critic who reviewed for the American Record Guide. A former music critic with the New York Herald Tribune and the World Journal Tribune, he was chief music critic for Time magazine from 1968-1978. He is the author of the Emmy Award winning documentary on Leopold Stokowski which aired on the National Educational Television and BBC networks in 1970. He is the co-author of the 1974 book The Tenors in which he profiled the life and career of opera singer Richard Tucker.

Bender earned a Master of Music from Columbia University where he also taught on the music faculty. He is a former faculty member of Syracuse University and Bradley University.