Born in 1961 in Künzelsau, in the southern German state of Baden-Württemberg, Christoph Schönberger studied architecture, librarianship, and musicology in Stuttgart. After working as a music librarian in Munich and at the Bundesakademie für musikalische Jugendbildung (Federal Academy for Musical Youth Education), in Trossingen, he moved to the United Kingdom, in 1997, and took up a post at the German Historical Institute London.
His best known compositions include several works for solo brass instruments, including a substantial Horn Concerto (2019) and sonatinas for trumpet (2022) and horn (2023), both with piano accompaniment. The Horn Concerto, which (unusually for a work in this genre) has a duration of approximately thirty minutes, was recorded on the Willowhayne label in March 2021 by Ben Goldscheider and the Philharmonia Orchestra under Lee Reynolds.