While attending the university he gave many public piano recitals throughout the Bay area and northern California, most notably with the Saturday Club of Sacramento.
He was chairman there from 1937 to 1951 and brought in distinguished musicians such as Randall Thompson, Ernest Bloch, Roger Sessions, Arthur Bliss, Manfred Bukofzer, and the Griller Quartet.
[1][2][3] Elkus was prolific as a composer, writing in a post-Brahmsian style, tending towards conservatism but with an emphasis on chromatic harmonics tinged with a dash of Impressionism.
He was performed by symphonies around the world, including San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York, Paris, and London.
Elkus was one of the editors of Oscar Weil Letters and Papers (1923), with Flora Arnstein and Stewart Young.