Christoph Poppen is highly regarded as a violinist and conductor championing contemporary music. He is also an important educator. Poppen founded the Cherubini String Quartet in 1978, serving for many years as its first violinist and winning several prizes. In 1995, he became the artistic director of the Münchener Kammerorchester, backing Isabelle Faust on an album of Haydn violin concertos in 1998. The following year, Poppen and Faust joined forces on an album of Bach violin concertos. Poppen has served as the artistic director of the Festival International de Música de Marvão in Portugal, where in 2019, he founded the International Academy of Music, Arts, and Science. Since 2014, Poppen has been the principal conductor of the Cologne Chamber Orchestra. In 2021, he recorded Mozart's Mass in C major, K. 317 ("Coronation"), with the Cologne Chamber Orchestra and West German Radio Chorus Cologne.