Elijah is a composer, conductor, arranger, producer, and vocalist from Rochester, NY, dedicated to creating genre-synthesizing works - pulling from classical, choral, musical theater, folk, jazz, R&B, and pop - to empower audiences to recognize shared humanity. Reviewer David Canfield wrote of his orchestral work "Churning" that it "convinced the listener that the composer was taking him on the only possible path."

As a composer, his music has been performed by the St. Olaf Chapel Choir, Spiritus Novus, the Switch Ensemble, Vox Medicinus, the IU Symphonic Orchestra, and the Jacobs Virtual Academy. “Bed of Roses” was nominated for the 2017 Hollywood International Songwriting Competition, “Falling Slow” and “If Only” were honorable mentions in the 2019 All-Eastern Composition Competition and All-National Electronic Composition Competition, and “Churning” was a winner of the 2025 IU “New Voices” contest for orchestra. 

In 2024, he completed his first oratorio, The Things They Don’t See, a piece that combines ethnographic methodologies with the oratorio genre, creating a community-engaged piece that focuses on grief and the unique pathways to healing. The completion of the work was made possible through the Lynn and Mary Steen Fellowship, funding student-driven community-based projects. In 2025, the “Able” piano suite, a work for solo piano exploring virtuosity through the lens of disability, grew from a close artistic collaboration with pianist Jacqueline Rasmussen, supported by a Kickstarter campaign that raised over $6,000 from 50 backers.

Elijah graduated from St. Olaf College in 2024 with a B.M. in composition and received an M.M. in composition from the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University. Currently, Elijah is pursuing a D.M.A. in composition at the University of Michigan, with a special interest in composition pedagogy. He works as a conductor with various choirs and teaches private lessons through his own studio.

You can learn more about Elijah and his music by heading to elijahculpmusic.com.