Biography
A native of Lima, Peru, Elmer Churampi began playing the trumpet when he was four years old with his father, who is also a trumpet player who plays in street bands. Elmer was invited to be part of the National Youth Orchestra of Peru when he was seven and performed as a soloist three times with them. When he was 10 years old, he was accepted to the National Conservatory of Music of Peru. Elmer was invited to be part of the professional orchestra of the Conservatory of Peru as a second trumpet when he was 12. At the age of 13, he played concerts with the Orquesta de los Reyes, the Opera Orchestra from Peru.
In 2010, he attended the Interlochen Summer Camp with a full scholarship, playing first trumpet in every concert. Elmer was accepted to the Interlochen Arts Academy with a full scholarship and studied for three years with Ken Larson. During that time, Elmer won competitions including Young Artist in 2013, Jack Kent Cooke Award in 2013 and the Interlochen Young Artist Award in 2013. Elmer was also interviewed and featured on the radio program From the Top.
He was invited by Mark Gould and Jen Lindemann to perform at the Banff Center of Arts in the brass festival in 2013. During his freshman year, Elmer won the concerto competition at New England Conservatory as well as the MTNA brass competition in Chicago. In 2015 and 2016, Elmer won first place in the National Trumpet Competition in the undergraduate division. He also won the Young Artist brass award in Texas.
In 2017, Elmer was the soloist for the Boston Philharmonic in the South America tour. Recently, Elmer was the winner of the Boston Pops Concerto Competition. Elmer graduated from the New England Conservatory with a bachelor’s degree in trumpet performance under the instruction of Tom Rolfs and Ben Wright, Principal and second Trumpet of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Elmer has played with the Canadian Brass, Boston Pops, the Boston Symphony and the Chicago Symphony.