Harold Charles Schonberg (29 November 1915 – 26 July 2003) was an American music critic and author. He is best known for his contributions in The New York Times, where he was chief music critic from 1960 to 1980. In 1971, he became the first music critic to win the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism. An influential critic,[1] he is particularly well known for his encouragement of Romantic piano music and criticism of conductor Leonard Bernstein.[2] He also wrote a number of books on music, and one on chess.