Jean‑Bernard Pommier (17 August 1944 – 23 April 2026) was a French pianist, conductor and teacher from Béziers, Hérault. He began piano at four, debuted publicly at seven, and studied with Yves Nat and Pierre Sancan in Paris, winning the 1960 Berlin Young Musicians Competition and becoming a finalist at the 1961 International Tchaikovsky Competition, earning an honourable mention from Emil Gilels. His recording career launched with EMI and later a decade with Herbert von Karajan and the Berlin Philharmonic; he released Mozart: Complete Piano Sonatas (1982), Beethoven: The Complete Piano Sonatas (2006) – a Diapason d’Or winner – and Schumann Recital (2006). He conducted the Northern Sinfonia, the Sofia Philharmonic Orchestra, and directed the Festival de Menton (2006–2008). Jean-Bernard Pommier received the Ordre national du Mérite and the Légion d’Honneur before passing away in Boujan‑sur‑Libron after a long illness.
