Born in Kiel, Zeyen first received violin and piano lessons (among others) with Cord Garben).
In 1980, he successfully participated in the national competition Jugend musiziert and received a scholarship of the Richard Wagner Foundation in 1982 and 1986.
After graduating from the Kieler Gelehrtenschule [de] in 1982,[1] he studied at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hannover with Martin Dörrie, Karl Engel and Bernhardt Ebert.
Prominent accompanists have included Juliane Banse, Christiane Iven, Sibylla Rubens, Doris Soffel, Siegfried Lorenz, Michael Schade and Bernd Weikl as well as the choirs of the Bavarian and South German Radio.
Since the first joint concerts at the Kremerata Musica in Lockenhaus in Burgenland in 1994, Justus Zeyen has worked regularly with Thomas Quasthoff.