Beginning at five years old, Wilhelm Lansky-Otto began intensive musical studies in piano. Later his studies included the violin, music theory and organ. He concertized and taught piano on many occasions throughout his life.

Positions include: principal horn in the Danish Radio Orchestra (1936-1945), teacher at the Reykjavik Conservatory, principal horn in the Stockholm Philharmonic, and teacher at the State Academy of Music in Stockholm.

As a teacher and player, he inspired a so-called "Lansky-school" of horn playing. Indeed, many of the prominent horn players throughout Scandinavia today are either pupils of, or have been influenced by the "Lansky-school" style.