At an early age, Lauber performed as a pianist in an orchestra led by his father. A patron enabled him to enter the Zurich Conservatory in 1881, where he became a student of Gustav Weber and Friedrich Hegar. He continued his studies in 1884 in Munich with Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (organ) and at the Conservatoire de Paris with Louis Diémer and Jules Massenet (piano and composition). After a few years as an organist in Le Locle (Canton of Neuchâtel), he taught at the Zurich Conservatory from 1899 to 1901 and then moved to Geneva. There he was theater conductor for two years and from 1907 professor of piano and instrumentation at the Geneva Conservatory, and from 1917 professor of composition. His students in Geneva included Henri Gagnebin and especially Frank Martin. In 1899, Lauber became a co-founder of the Swiss Musicians' Association.
