Benedikt Leitner was born in Vienna and began playing the cello at the age of seven.
He studied with Hedy Feierl at the Conservatory of the City of Vienna and with Valentin Erben at the at the University of Music, Vienna, where he graduated in 1990.
Benedikt Leitner took chamber music lessons with Serge Collot and Günter Pichler, among others, and participated in master classes with Tobias Kühne.
He played his first concert with the Klangforum Wien in December 1989 at the Vienna Secession. As a soloist, chamber musician and member of Klangforum Wien since 1990, he has performed at numerous festivals as well as participated in radio and CD recordings in Europe, the USA and Japan.
He also accompanied Michael Heltau in his solo program for years as a member of the “Wiener Theatermusiker” and debuted in 2016 in a supporting role as a performing musician in the film “Kater” by Händl Klaus.