Slovak double bassist Roman Patkoló has emerged as one of the world's top players of his instrument. He was born in in 1982 in Zilina, Slovakia, and took up the double bass at 13. At 15 he won first prize in a Slovak national double bass competition. By that time he had enrolled at the Zilina Conservatory, studying with Jan Krigovsky and Ruzena Sípkova, and at the Munich Conservatory, where his teacher was Klaus Trumpf.

He won further competitions as a student, such as the International Double Bass Competition in the U.S. state of Iowa in 1999 and the Johannes Matthias Sperger International Competition in Germany in 2000. In 2001 he received the European Prize of Culture in Berlin as a soloist and later the European Quartett Prize in Luzern.

1999-2011 Roman Patkoló joined the Anne-Sophie Mutter Foundation on a scholarship and quickly found himself in the international concert spotlight.

Further prizes followed such as the First Prize at the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) in Munich, Fürstenberg Classics Prize in Donaueschingen, Germany, L. Rajter Prize in Pressburg, Aida Stucki Prize in New York in 2011, awarded by Anne-Sophie Mutter, and the City of Toronto International Glenn Gould Protégé Prize, following the recommendation of Sir André Previn. In 2018 he was awarded the "OPUS Klassik" Prize for "Best Instrumentalist of the Year".

Roman Patkoló performs as a soloist and with Anne-Sophie Mutter in Europe, Asia, the USA and Canada, appearing with orchestras such as the German Symphony Orchestra Berlin, Camerata Moscow, the SWR Symphony Orchestra Stuttgart, Virtuosi di Kuhmo, the Munich Chamber Orchestra, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Czech Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (Washington).

He has been a guest at festivals such as the Luzern Festival, the Rheingau Music Festival, the Verbier Festival, the Mecklenburg-Vorpommern Festival, Yehudi Menuhin Festival Gstaad, the Prague Spring Festival, as well as at Carnegie Hall and the Musikverein in Vienna, the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Barbican Center, the Smetana Hall. He has also appeared on television, including on "Stars of Tomorrow" (ARTE), presented by Rolando Villazón, and "Sunday Night Classics" (ZDF) with Maxim Vengerov.

With Anne-Sophie Mutter, Roman Patkoló has performed in several world premieres, including Sir André Previn’s Double Concerto for violin and double bass, Krzysztof Penderecki’s Duo concertante for violin and double bass and Wolfgang Rihm’s Dyade in 2011, as well as Sebastian Currier’s Ringtone Variations in 2013.

In 2018 he joined Anne-Sophie Mutter and other musicians on the Deutsche Grammophon release "Hommage à Penderecki".

Since February 2005 Roman Patkoló has been double bass principal at the Zurich Opera House.

Roman Patkoló has taught at the Munich University of Music and the Performing Arts and at the Basel Music Academy and regularly gives master classes around the world.