Luigi Zaninelli (born 30 March 1932, in New Jersey) is an Italian-American composer of vocal and instrumental music.
Zaninelli was born in Raritan, New Jersey, and began his musical career as a jazz pianist at the age of 12, but also learned to appreciate European "Classical" music. He became a student and an instructor at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. Curtis sent him to Italy to study under the legendary Rosario Scalero. In 1973 he was appointed to the music faculty as the composer-in-residence at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, a position he held until his retirement in 2009.