Elliott Lupp’s compositional and technological interests are multi-faceted, ranging from works for solo musician/chamber ensembles to multimedia projects in popular genres. His process often shifts from project to project, but often involves journaling, doodling, painting, improvising with balloons and other physical objects that might yield interesting musical material, and recording said sounds to use for acoustic and digital manipulation. Given this, his work consistently gravitates toward manipulation and collision of noise, extreme gesture, fluctuating energy, shifting timbre, and performer–computer improvisation and interaction. He is deeply influenced by pop culture, memes, film, mental health, humor, musical theater, and nostalgia, alongside a persistent drive for experimentation and discovery—particularly in treating the laptop as a creative instrument/tool in its own right.
More recently, Elliott’s creative focus has turned toward an examination of the human condition, the ways art and technology can foster connection across sonic and visual mediums, and his personal relationship with his own neurodivergence and emotional state given socio-political overwhelm. This has prompted an ongoing consideration of audience perception, presence, and need for more connection, as well as an awareness with how his work functions within broader artistic ecosystem. To mirror these ideas, his work often draws on recognizable samples from popular films, games, television, and other media, only to subject them to harsh manipulation, producing gradual or sudden shifts between familiarity and the unknown, confusion and confidence, clarity and uncertainty, and chaotic tension and release.
Elliott has received a number of awards and honors for his work, including a 2023 1st-place MA/IN Award, the CIME Residency Award, a 2019 SEAMUS/ASCAP Commission, the 2019 Franklin G. Fisk Composition Award for Chamber Music, and Departmental and All-University awards in Graduate Research and Creative Scholarship.
His music has been performed at a variety of electroacoustic festivals/confrences including NUNC!, SPLICE Fest, MA/IN Festival, SPLICE Institute, N_SEME, CHIMEfest, Electronic Music Midwest, MOXsonic, Fulcrumpoint New Music Project, SEAMUS, and Electroacoustic Barn Dance, and by such ensembles as the Dutch/American trio Sonic Hedgehog (flute, clarinet, and electric guitar), the Atar Piano Trio, Found Sound New Music Ensemble, Spektral Quartet, various members of MOCREP, The Chicago Composer's Orchestra, Fonema Consort, and Ensemble Dal Niente.
Elliott has taught courses in music composition, music technology, and aural skills at Northwestern University, and is currently an instructor of composition and music technology at Western Michigan University where he teaches courses in composition, electronic music techniques, computer music design, aural skills, and music theory.
PhD: Northwestern University (currently a PHD candidate *Expected graduation Spring 2026) - Studied with: Alex Mincek, Jay Alan Yim, Stephan Moore
MM: Western Michigan University - Studied with: Christopher Biggs, Lisa R. Coons
BM: Columbia College Chicago - Studied with: Eliza Brown, Kenn Kumpf
