As a soloist, Reinhold Friedrich has performed with such well-known ensembles as Bamberger and Wiener Symphoniker, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, BBC Symphony Orchestra, Prague Philharmonic Orchestra, Colon Theater, all German Radio Symphony Orchestras a.o. From 1983 to 1999 he was a solo trumpet player at the Symphony Orchestra of Radio Frankfurt. In 2003, Claudio Abbado named him the Permanent Soloist of the Lucerne Festival Orchestra, conducted by Riccardo Chailly since 2017.

Reinhold Friedrich is an important performer of contemporary music. This includes compositions by Wolfgang Rihm, Carole Bauckholt, Luciano Beria, Edison Denissov, Peter Eötvös, Hans Werner Henze, Adriana Hölszky, Matthias Pintscher, Jan Rääts, Rebecca Saunders, Nina Šenk, Gerhard Stäbler and many others. Solo concerts such as Herbert Willie’s “Eirene” (Wergo) and Berlo Alois Zimmermann’s “Nobody knows de trouble I see”, whose recording won the ECHO Klassik Award in 1994, are an important part of his wide repertoire.