[1] Born in 1962, Elliott grew up in Bucks County, Pennsylvania, studying piano from the age of six.
He went on to study composition at Vassar College, where his teachers included Annea Lockwood and the pianist Todd Crow; Elliott subsequently received his PhD from the University of Chicago, where he studied with Ralph Shapey and Shulamit Ran.
[2][3] He received two Broadcast Music, Inc. Student Composer awards in 1985 and 1987.
[4] Elliott is currently composer in residence at Saint Ann's School, in Brooklyn, New York, where he has taught since 1988.
He has received fellowships from Yaddo, the American Composers Forum, and the MacDowell Colony (1989, 1990), and has been in residence at institutions such as the University of Florida.