Nikolay Sergeyevich Zhilyayev (Russian: Никола́й Серге́евич Жиля́ев, Nikolaj Sergejevič Žiljajev; 18 November (N.S.) 1881 – 20 January 1938), was a musicologist, and the teacher of several 20th-century composers. He was a victim of political repression in the Soviet Union.

This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (January 2013)

He was a pupil of Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov and Sergei Taneyev at the Moscow Conservatory in around 1904. He went on to teach there himself. His pupils included the composers Yevgeny Golubev, Aram Khachaturian, Lev Knipper, Alexei Fedorovich Kozlovsky, Alexei Vladimirovich Stanchinsky, Anatoly Nikolayevich Alexandrov and Samuil Evgenyevich Feinberg.

He was a member of the Russian Academy of Art-Sciences and of the State Institute of Musical Science. He wrote many essays.

Zhilyayev was shot shortly after his arrest during Joseph Stalin's state repression known as the Great Terror.

• Mikhail Mishchenko: 'Zhilyayev, Nikolay Sergeyevich', Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 2 June 2007), <http://www.grovemusic.com Archived 2008-05-16 at the Wayback Machine>
• A. Eaglefield-Hull (ed), A Dictionary of Modern Music and Musicians (Dent, London 1924)

• FIENBERG In Sound and Thought ARBITER 146 (AtOr): Classical CD Reviews- June 2006 MusicWeb-International at www.musicweb-international.com.