Bio

Elijah is a composer, conductor, arranger, producer, and vocalist from Rochester, NY.  Enriched in a diverse musical upbringing, Elijah loves to write music that brings different genres together, pulling from classical, choral, musical theater, folk, jazz, R&B, and pop -all in seorvice of creating accessible and emotionally engaging music that empowers us to recognize our shared humanity. 

Elijah has always had a deep love for music. Born with a mild form of Cerebral Palsy (CP) impacting the coordination on his right side, Elijah was put into music therapy at 2 years old, banging on instruments and exploring sound before he could talk. Elijah learned how to harmonize through singing and performing with his father, creating harmony lines by ear, and performing for "Old Time Music Night" at his church.

As a teenager, Elijah developed an interest in musical theater, music production, and composition. He participated in over 30 community and youth theater productions throughout middle and high school. Using GarageBand on his iPod, Elijah began transcribing the orchestrations of Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton in 8th grade and posted them to YouTube. In the same year, he also created his first composition - a minimalistic Wind Ensemble piece that he wrote for his school’s band.

Recently, Elijah graduated magna cum laude from St. Olaf College with a B.M. in Composition. During his time at St. Olaf,  Elijah served as the music director for Ole Ave Vocal Jazz, the teaching assistant for the composition department, and the artistic director for Spiritus Novus, a student-run choir that performs compositions by St. Olaf students. Elijah was also a member of the Viking Chorus, Chamber Singers, a section leader of the St. Olaf Chapel Choir, and collaborated with Synergy Musician's Collective as a conductor. In the spring of 2023, Elijah was fortunate to conduct the St. Olaf Chapel Choir for the premiere of his setting of Ellen Bass's The Thing Is, under the direction of guest conductor Ralph Johnson. The piece was a part of Chapel Choir's spring oratorio concert where they performed Mozart's Requiem in collaboration with the St. Olaf Orchestra.

This April, Elijah premiered a new oratorio 2 years in the making, The Things They Don't See (TTDS). TTDS is a continuation of the "Remember The Love" concert, telling the story of Micheal through the community that lost him. His work on the piece began in late spring of 2022 by gathering memories of how community members knew him, and anecdotes on how they processed their grief over his passing. The following fall, Elijah began setting the stories he'd gathered to music. The piece was completed during the summer of 2023 due to the generous financial support of the Steen Fellowship, giving him the time and funding he needed to finish the work.