Johnny Aubert, whose full name was John Adolphe Aubert, was a Swiss pianist and music teacher. He was born in Geneva on November 11, 1889, into a family of musicians. He studied at the Geneva Conservatory with Oscar Schulz and Marie Pantes, graduating with distinction in 1909 and receiving the Liszt Prize. He soon won the international piano competition organized by the Paris magazine Musica, whose prize was a Gaveau grand piano.
Aubert performed in Switzerland and abroad. In 1921, he was invited to perform with the Suisse Romande Orchestra under Ernest Ansermet, playing concertos by Beethoven, Liszt, and Bartók. He also performed Beethoven’s Fifth Piano Concerto with the Lamoureux Orchestra and toured Europe and the United States with violinist Francis MacMillen. In his later years, his hearing began to weaken, but he continued to perform as a soloist. Paralysis in his hand eventually forced him to stop concertizing; his final public performance was on January 31, 1954. He died in Geneva on May 1, 1954.
From 1912, Aubert taught at the Geneva Conservatory as a professor for forty years, teaching several generations of pianists. His students included composer and harpsichordist Andrei Volkonsky and Dutch pianist Luctor Ponse.
In 1926, Aubert married Swiss cellist and actress Germaine Tournier. They bought the Tournier family estate in Vandœuvres, Switzerland, and settled there. In 1996, Aubert’s widow established the Johnny Aubert–Tournier Foundation to support musicians and theater artists.