Zumsteeg championed the operas of Mozart in Stuttgart, staging the first performances there of Die Zauberflöte, Don Giovanni, and Così fan tutte.

His ballads had a great influence on the young Franz Schubert, who imitated a number of Zumsteeg's as studies (some even in exactly the same keys) while he was a teenager.

Zumsteeg showed promise as a virtuoso cellist, and in 1778 claimed the highest award in the performance division of the Karlsschule for the sixth time.

[2] On the other hand, when the lyrics consisted of long poems, Zumsteeg experimented with changing the character and moods throughout his music to create drama and contrast.

The similarities between Zumsteeg and Schubert's writings included: having a rhapsodic form, clear depiction of mood, and the utilization of recitative in their works.

Six of Schubert's songs are closely based on Zumsteeg's settings of the same exact texts: "Hagars Klage" (D5), "Lied der Liebe" (D109), "Nachtgesang" (D314), "Ritter Toggenburg" (D397), "Die Erwartung" (D159), and "Skolie" (D507).

In addition, there are close similarities between Zumsteeg and Schubert's choice in melodic structure, form, and selection of key and meter in these pieces.

[2] During most of his career, Zumsteeg was closely connected to the Swabian court, and in 1791 he was appointed to fill the vacancy left by C. F. D. Schubart's death at the Mimik-Institut.

His opera from Shakespeare's The Tempest, Die Geisterinsel, remained in the repertory for almost twenty years after its premiere in 1798 and has recently been recorded.