Ernani Henrique Chaves Aguiar (born 30 August 1950, Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is a Brazilian composer, choral conductor, and musicologist.

A scholarship winner to the Argentine Mozarteum, Aguiar studied under various composers and conductors in South America and later in Europe, including Sergiu Celibidache. As a musicologist, he has specialized in the revising, editing, and revival of works by composers of the 18th century Minas Gerais School. He has written a number of instrumental pieces, but his most famous works are his choral pieces, such as the energetic Salmo 150 (1993), which feature rhythmic backgrounds with very rapid articulations. Salmo 150 has proved a very popular piece among choral conductors worldwide, particularly within the American Choral Directors Association .

He is currently a professor of music at the University of Rio de Janeiro, a fellow of the Villa-Lobos Institute, and a member of the Academia Brasileira de Música.

Choral works

• Cantilena, para coro "a capella"
• Danças, para barítono e cordas, 1993
• Falai de Deus, para coro "a capella"
• Missa Brevis
• Missa Brevis II in honorem S. Francisci Assisiensis, para coro "a capella"
• Missa Brevis III
• O sacrum convivium, para coro misto "a capella"
• Oração de São Francisco, para coro misto "a capella"
• Psalm 74
• Psalmus CL, para coro "a capella"
• Refrão, para coro misto "a capella"
• Sacipererê, para coro infantil "a capella"
• Salmo 150 (Psalm 150), 1993
• Venid, para coro "a capella"

Instrumental works

• Bifonia nº 1 e nº 2, para flauta e fagote
• Duo, para violino e cello, 1986
• Melorritmias, para flauta
• Miniaturas, para clarineta e piano
• Sonatina, para piano
• Toques de cabocolinhos, para piano
• Três peças, para trompete e piano, 1971
• Violoncelada, para oito violoncelos, 1993

Operatic works

• O menino Maluquinho, 1993

Orchestral works

• Cantata de Natal, para coro e orquestra
• Cantata O menino maluquinho, para coro e orquestra, 1989
• Cantos sacros para orixás, para coro e orquestra, 1994
• Sinfonietta prima, para orquestra sinfônica, 1990