Christian Jost was born in Trier on 17 October 1963. From 1983 to 1989 he studied composition, analysis and conducting in Cologne and San Francisco. He has been awarded several grants, including from the Stiftung Kulturfonds des Deutschen Volkes (Cultural Foundation of the German People) and the Stiftung Kunst und Kultur des Landes Nordrhein
Westfalen (Arts and Cultural Foundation of the Land North Rhine-Westphalia).

In 1992 Jost attracted attention for the first time with Magma, a work commissioned by the orchestra of the State theatre in Darmstadt. From 1996 to 1998 he travelled extensively in the People’s Republic of China and fostered his cooperation with various Chinese orchestras. The piano concerto Der lange Weg des Drachen for the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra premiered with Jost as a soloist.

During the 1999-2000 season Christian Jost was the first Composer in Residence of the Beethoven Hall in Bonn, for whose orchestra he composed The End of Game.

Recently, Jost has received commissions from renowned orchestras from all over the world, e.g. from the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and the Residentie Orkest Den Haag. His large scale music drama Phoenix ressurexit, the central work of a triptych about the Phoenix legend, met with great success. Commissioned by the Kultusministerium Rheinland-Pfalz, it was performed with Klaus Maria Brandauer and Christiane Oelze.

One of the latest works of the solo concertos which form the centre of Jost’s creative output is the concerto for alto saxophone and orchestra, LuxAeterna. It was commissioned by the residentie Orkest Den Haag and premiered with the soloist Arno Bornkamp, conducted by Jac van Steen in October 2003.

In May 2003 Christian Jost received one of the renowned prices by the Ernst von Siemens Stifung and in 2003/04, he is composer in residence of the Staatskapelle Weimar which premiered his CocoonSymphonie in December 2003.

Two operas by Christian Jost have been premiered in season 2004/05 and achieved faboulous success: In January 2005 the Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Duesseldorf, staged the world premiere production of his first full-evening opera Vipern – murderous desire in 4 acts and in May the first scenic performance of the one-act opera Death knocks after Woody Allen has been shown at Theater Erfurt.

Jost’s most recent musc theatre project is the choir opera ANGST – 5 Pforten der Angst for choir, choir soloists, ensemble and film projection. ANGST is commissioned by the Radio Choir Berlin and has been premiered in January 2006. Christian Jost has recently composed Miserere for the SWR Rundfunkorchester Kaiserslautern (premiered in May 2006), the Concerto for Orchestra for the Radio Sinfonie-Orchester Stuttgart (April 2007) and Heart of Darkness for the Berlin Philharmonic (November 2007).

In April 2008, Jost's next opera, The Arabian Night (after the play by Roland Schimmelpfennig) has been staged at Theater Essen. He is composr in residence at the Komische Oper Berlin in 2008/2009 where his oper Hamlet after William Shakespeare will receive its world première in June 2009.

Christian Jost lives as a freelance composer in Berlin.