Reinhard Latzko was born in Freising, Germany. He studied under Jan Polasek, Martin Ostertag and Heinrich Schiff and is the proud holder of numerous national and international prizes and awards (among others CIEM Geneve, Venezia).

From 1987 to 2003 Reinhard Latzko performed as the first solo cellist in the Südwestfunk symphonic orchestra under Michael Gielen. As a soloist he worked among others with the Basel symphonic orchestra, the Tonhalle orchestra Zurich, the Südwestfunk symphonic orchestra and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie orchestra under conductors such as Michael Gielen and Yuri Ahronowitsch.

Together with Ernst Kovacic, Heinrich Schiff, Christian Tetzlaff, Gustav Rivinius and Christian Altenburger he explored the realm of chamber music in depth.His successful stage career to date included venues such as the Vienna Concert House, the Musikverein Vienna, Berlin Philharmonics, Köln Philharmonics as well as the Palais des Beaux Arts in Brussels.Reinhard Latzko has successfully mastered numerous premieres of works by Rihm, Krenek, Gielen and Trümpy.

Between 1988 and 2005 he led an education and concert class for violoncello at the Basel Music Academy as the successor of Boris Pergamenschikow. He has furthermore led countless master classes in Germany, France, Spain, Croatia, Korea and Austria. Since 2003, Reinhard Latzko teaches violoncello at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.