Karl Wilhelm Brandt was born and educated in Coburg, Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, now part of Germany.
He succeeded Theodor Richter (1826–1901) as the second ever trumpet professor of the Moscow Conservatory in 1900, and also taught band orchestration there.
Brandt joined the faculty of the newly established Saratov Conservatory in 1912 as the first professor of trumpet.
Following the death of Brandt, Konstantin Listov composed Funeral Fanfare for his departed teacher.
Among his students are Pyotr Lyamin (1884–1968) who succeeded Brandt as a professor at the Saratov Conservatory; Pavel Klochkov (1884–1966) who was an early Russian recording artist; Vladimir Drucker (1898–1974) who was a principal trumpet with the Los Angeles Philharmonic; and Mikhail Tabakov (1877–1956) who became professor at the Moscow Conservatory.