Grew up in the Ruhr area and by Lake Constance, he discovered the double bass for himself at the age of thirteen. After completing his high school education, he studied in Frankfurt am Main and subsequently became a scholarship holder at the newly founded Academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchester under Lorin Maazel. In Geneva, he completed his studies with Franco Petracchi, earning the Diplôme de Soliste.
Since 2004 he is principal double bass with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchester and has performed multiple times as a soloist with his orchestra under the direction of former chief conductor Mariss Jansons.
As a chamber musician, Philipp Stubenrauch is a member of various ensembles and has performed with Maria João Pires, Valery Afanassiev, Baiba Skride, and Maximilian Hornung, among others. Together with Wen-Sinn Yang and Hariolf Schlichtig, he recorded a much-acclaimed CD featuring new chamber music works by Sofia Gubaidulina.
He also finds great joy in his commitment to nurturing young talent: for over 20 years, he has been coaching the double bass section of the Bavarian State Youth Orchestra and is a lecturer at the Academy of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchester. He conducts master classes at many universities in Europe and Asia and took on a professorship at the Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart in 2023.