{{Short description|French pianist and conductor (1944–2026)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox person | name = Jean-Bernard Pommier | image = Jean-Bernard Pommier (1a).jpg | alt = Black and white studio publicity headshot of a half-smiling, clean-shaven man, with dark eyes and black, curly hair. He rests his chin on his hand, and stares intently to camera from under dark brows. | caption = Pommier in the 1980s | birth_date = {{birth date|1944|8|17|df=y}} | birth_place = Béziers, South Zone, German occupied France | death_date = {{death date and age|2026|4|23|1944|8|17|df=y}} | death_place = Boujan-sur-Libron, France | education = Conservatoire de Paris | occupation = {{ubl| Pianist | Conductor | Academic teacher}} | organizations = {{ubl| Northern Sinfonia | Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino | Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra | École Normale de Musique de Paris }} | awards = {{ubl| Ordre national du Mérite | Légion d’Honneur }} }}
'''Jean-Bernard Pommier''' (17 August 1944 – 23 April 2026) was a French pianist, conductor and academic teacher who made an international career. He was known for playing music by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff. As a conductor, he led the Northern Sinfonia, the Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino and Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra. From 2006 to 2008, he directed the Festival de Menton. He taught as professor at the École Normale de Musique de Paris from 2018.
== Life and career == Jean-Bernard Pommier was born in Béziers on 17 August 1944,<ref name="Lopez" /><ref name="Gault" /> the son of an organist.<ref name="Roux" /> He began playing the piano at the age of four and gave his first public concert at the age of seven. He had his first lessons in Béziers with the Russian-schooled Mina Koslova.<ref name="Gault" /> His father introduced him to Pablo Casals. At the age of 14, he moved to Paris to study the piano, first privately with Yves Nat, as his last student,<ref name="Lopez" /> and then at the Conservatoire de Paris with Pierre Sancan,<ref name="Pizzicato" /> also studying conducting with Eugène Bigot.<ref name="Gault" /> Later, he also worked with Eugene Istomin in New York City.<ref name="Estomin" />
He was recognised internationally when he won Berlin Young Musicians International Competition in 1960.<ref name="Gault" /> In 1962, he was at age 17 the youngest finalist at the International Tchaikovsky Competition in Moscow.<ref name="Gault" /><ref name="Sofia" /> He was awarded an honourable mention<ref name="Gault" /> by a jury presided over by Emil Gilels.<ref name="Interharmony" />
In 1963 Pommier and Eugene Istomin met in Sofia where Pommier played Ravel's Piano Concerto in G major for the first time. Istomin complimented him on the Ravel Concerto and suggested they would meet again. They established a transatlantic relationship punctuated by Istomin's travels to Europe. Istomin said: "It was not a master-student relationship, but an ongoing dialogue between colleagues. Jean-Bernard's career was already well launched! I cannot take the glory for this – it is Jean-Bernard who deserves all the credit. I am honoured to have been his teacher - the teacher of an exceptional student!”. They would go on to have a friendship of over forty years, performing together and making recordings.<ref name="Estomin" />
=== Career === After the Tchaikovsky Competition, Pommier began recording with EMI.<ref name="Sofia" /> Ten years later, he began a long period of collaboration with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic in Berlin and Salzburg.<ref name="Sofia" /> He played with conductors including Pierre Boulez,<ref name="Pizzicato" /> Zubin Mehta,<ref name="Interharmony" /> Bernard Haitink, Kurt Masur, Riccardo Muti and Simon Rattle, among others. His recital and concert appearances included London, Vienna, Berlin, Leipzig, Dresden, Amsterdam, Moscow, Chicago and New York City.<ref name="Sofia" /> He performed Beethoven's complete piano concertos with Daniel Barenboim conducting the Orchestre de Paris.<ref name="Lopez" /><ref name="Gault" />
From the beginning of the 1980s, Pommier also worked as a conductor working with major orchestras in Europe and America such as the Orchestre philharmonique de Radio France, Philharmonia Orchestra in London, the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony,<ref name="Gault" /> Los Angeles Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Dresden, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra,<ref name="Lopez" /> Rotterdam Philharmonic, Tonhalle Zurich, Warsaw Philharmonic, Czech Philharmonic, Budapest Symphony, Leipzig Radio, Belgium National Orchestra, Orchestre de la Suisse Romande and Salzburg Mozarteum.<ref name="Sofia" />
He conducted piano concertos from the keyboard, with the Scottish Chamber Orchestra, the Northern Sinfonia, the English Chamber Orchestra,<ref name="Lopez" /> the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, the Sinfonia Varsovia, the Israel Chamber Orchestra, and the Orchestre de Chambre de Lausanne.<ref name="Sofia" /> His chamber music partners included Isaac Stern, Itzhak Perlman, Mstislav Rostropovich,<ref name="Lopez" /><ref name="Pizzicato" /> Pinchas Zukerman, Leonard Rose,<ref name="Interharmony" /> Alexander Schneider, Jean-Pierre Rampal, Paul Tortelier, Maurice Bourgue, Jaime Laredo, Josef Suk,<ref name="Sofia" /> the Guarneri Quartet and the Vermeer Quartet.<ref name="Pizzicato" /><ref name="Sofia" /><ref name="Interharmony" /> Pommier gave masterclasses<ref name="Interharmony" /> in Chicago, London, Lausanne, Rotterdam, Durham, Barcelona, Melbourne and Shanghai.<ref name="Sofia" /> Pommier was also artistic director of the Northern Sinfonia, principal conductor of the Orchestra Filarmonica di Torino,<ref name="Pizzicato" /> and principal conductor of the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra.<ref name="Pizzicato" /><ref name="Sofia" /> From 2006 to 2008 he was artistic director of the Festival de Menton.<ref name="Gault" /><ref name="Pizzicato" />
Pommier recorded Mozart's complete Piano Sonatas and piano concertos by Mozart, Tchaikovsky and Rachmaninoff, among others.<ref name="Interharmony" /> He recorded Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos and Orchestra with pianist Anne Queffélec and the City of London Sinfonia, conducted by Richard Hickox.<ref name="Classics today" /> Pommier recorded the ''Sonate Pour Deux Pianistes'' that the jazz pianist Claude Bolling composed on Pommier's initiative with the composer in 1972.<ref name="Grooves" /> A recording of Beethoven's complete Piano Sonatas earned him a Diapason d'Or.<ref name="Lopez" /><ref name="Interharmony" /> He was a recipient of the ''Ordre national du Mérite'' and the ''Légion d’Honneur''.<ref name="Lopez" /><ref name="Sofia" /><ref name="Interharmony" /><!--
=== Teaching === From 2018 Pommier was a professor in the École Normale de Musique de Paris in Paris.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Pommier Jean-Bernard|url=http://www.ecolenormalecortot.com/en/enseignants/pommier-jean-bernard/|access-date=2 September 2021|website=Ecole Normale de Musique de Paris|language=en-US}}</ref> He started the Academie Musiké Association (AMA)) where he taught piano and chamber music to international students.<ref name="Sofia" /> -->
=== Personal life === Pommier was married to the Russian violinist Olga Martinova, with whom he often performed.<ref name="Gault" />
Pommier died in Boujan-sur-Libron on 23 April 2026, at the age of 81, after a long illness.<ref name="Lopez" /><ref name="Gault" /><ref name="Roux" /><ref name="Pizzicato" />
== References == <references>
<ref name="Gault">{{cite web | last = Gault | first = Philippe | date = 25 April 2026 | title = Mort du grand pianiste et chef d'orchestre Jean-Bernard Pommier | url = https://www.radioclassique.fr/classique/le-pianiste-et-chef-dorchestre-biterrois-jean-bernard-pommier-est-mort-a-81-ans/ | work = Radio classique | language = fr | access-date = 28 April 2026 }}</ref>
<ref name="Lopez">{{cite web | last = Lopez | first = Louis-Valentin | date = 24 April 2026 | title = Mort du grand pianiste et chef d'orchestre Jean-Bernard Pommier | url = https://www.radiofrance.fr/francemusique/mort-du-grand-pianiste-et-chef-d-orchestre-jean-bernard-pommier-5100955 | work = Radio France | language = fr | access-date = 24 April 2026 }}</ref>
<ref name="Roux">{{cite web | last = Roux | first = Marie-Aude | date = 27 April 2026 | title = Jean-Bernard Pommier, pianiste français à la carrière internationale, est mort | url = https://www.lemonde.fr/disparitions/article/2026/04/27/jean-bernard-pommier-pianiste-francais-a-la-carriere-internationale-est-mort_6683647_3382.html | work = Le Monde | language = fr | access-date = 28 April 2026 }}</ref>
<ref name="Classics today">{{cite web | title = Poulenc – works for piano & orchestra | url = https://www.classicstoday.com/review/review-6736/ | access-date = 29 April 2026 | work = Classics today | language = en-US }}</ref>
<ref name="Estomin">{{cite web | title = Jean-Bernard Pommier | url = https://www.eugeneistomin.com/the-musician/teaching/jean-bernard-pommier/ | access-date = 2 September 2021 | website = eugeneistomin.com | language = en-US }}</ref>
<ref name="Grooves">{{cite web | date = 2026 | title = JClaude Bolling / Sonate Pour Deux Pianistes | url = https://www.grooves-inc.com/bolling-claude-sonate-pour-deux-pianistes-freme-cd-pZZa1-1899184974.html?srsltid=AfmBOopai51kCJBTGxWDxyUhkl31DwE7vrCohbvoCe3OuyE10wuTe4hT | access-date = 29 April 2026 | website = grooves-inc.com }}</ref>
<ref name="Interharmony">{{cite web | date = 2016 | title = Jean-Bernard Pommier / Sessions I/II | url = https://www.interharmony.com/guest-artist-series/past-artists/JeanBernard-Pommier-piano | access-date = 2 September 2021 | website = interharmony.com }}</ref>
<ref name="Pizzicato">{{cite web | date = 25 April 2026 | title = French pianist Jean-Bernard Pommier has died at the age of 81 | url = https://www.pizzicato.lu/french-pianist-jean-bernard-pommier-has-died-at-the-age-of-81/ | work = Pizzicato | language = fr | access-date = 28 April 2026 }}</ref>
<ref name="Sofia">{{cite web | title = Jean-Bernard Pommier | work = Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra | url = https://sofiaphilharmonic.com/en/artists/jean-bernard-pommier/ | access-date = 2 September 2021 | language = en-US }}</ref>
</references>
== External links == * {{Discogs artist}} * {{IMDb name|4876233}} * {{Cite web |title=Jean-Bernard Pommier (Piano) |url=https://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Pommier-Jean-Bernard.htm|access-date=2 September 2021 |work = Bach Cantatas |ref=no}} * {{YouTube|Bb7Yoeo9wBk|Mariya Kostenko - Master Class with Jean Bernard Pommier: Saint Saëns Piano Concerto No 2}}
{{Start box}} {{Succession box | title=Artistic Director, Northern Sinfonia | before=Heinrich Schiff | years=1996–1999 | after=Thomas Zehetmair}} {{End box}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pommier, Jean-Bernard}} Category:1944 births Category:2026 deaths Category:20th-century French classical pianists Category:20th-century French male classical pianists Category:21st-century French classical pianists Category:21st-century French conductors (music) Category:21st-century French male classical pianists Category:Academic staff of the École Normale de Musique de Paris Category:Conservatoire de Paris alumni Category:French male conductors (music) Category:People from Béziers