Christoph Wagner is a prize-winning cellist, sought-after chamber musician and pedagogue, and is one of the 2025 – 2026 University of Richmond Department of Music Artists in Residence. He received first prizes at the German youth competition Jugend Musiziert, won the competition Ribalta Mozart Italia in Italy as well as the Peter Pirazzi competition in Germany in 2013, and was prize winner of the National Society of Arts and Letters competition in Bloomington, Indiana in 2016 and 2017. He is a scholarship holder from the Richard Wagner Verband Frankfurt, the Karlsruhe LIONS Club, and the Theodor Rogler Foundation for Young Musicians. As a member of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, he performed in major concert halls in Europe, such as the Berlin Philharmonie and Concertgebouw Amsterdam, under renowned conductors like Jonathan Nott, Lothar Zagrosek, and Stefan Asbury. He played in the Gürzenich Orchestra/Opera Cologne in the 2013-2014 season and has performed in festivals in Switzerland, Croatia, France, Italy, South Africa, South America, China, South Korea, and the United States. 

Wagner has been a passionate music ambassador as fellowship holder from the Live Music Now - Yehudi Menuhin Foundation in Germany and as a musician of Classical Connections in Bloomington, Indiana, where he played numerous concerts in underserved areas. In 2018 he received the Sviatoslav Richter Grant from Rice University for outreach concerts in public schools and participated in a summer residency with the Los Angeles Street Symphony. He was a Young Artist Fellow of DA CAMERA Houston from 2018 to 2020, and received the Amici di Via Gabina Fellowship from Rice University for research and performances in Italy in 2019. Wagner received a Bachelor of Music degree from the University of Music in Frankfurt, a Master of Music at Indiana University, and his DMA dissertation at Rice University is titled “Injuries in Professional Orchestral Musicians—An Overview of Current Data and Trends.” Dr. Wagner currently is Assistant Professor of Cello and Head of Strings at the University of New Mexico.