the water in your body is just visiting — string quartet (2025)
Commande de l'Académie du Festival international d’art lyrique d’Aix-en-Provence, duration 11 minutes
the water in your body is just visiting is based on the poem "Naming the River" by Jarod K. Anderson from his collection Field Guide to the Haunted Forest:
The water in your body is just visiting.
It was a thunderstorm a week ago.
It will be the ocean soon enough.
Most of your cells come and go like morning dew.
We are more weather pattern
than stone monument.
Sunlight on mist. Summer lightning.
Your choices outweigh your substance.
The titles of the movements in the quartet refer to phrases and textures implied in the different states of water in the poem. The theme of water is a nod to the meaning of “Aix,” where the piece is receiving its premiere.
— Leilehua Lanzilotti, 15 April 2025
Set of four parts (all players perform off the score) for the water in your body is just visiting.
Digital download of the score (all players perform off the score) for the water in your body is just visiting.
Please note: This PDF is intended for individual use. Libraries wishing to acquire scores should purchase the set of physical scores for this item.
Upcoming Performances
Saturday, May 23, 2026 — Members of the The Boston Festival Orchestra perform the East Coast premiere of the water in your body is just visiting, Cambridge Public Library, Cambridge, MA
Monday, June 8, 2026 — The Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, the New York Climate Exchange, and the Climate Museum present a free concert including the New York premiere of the water in your body is just visiting by Leilehua Lanzilotti performed by musicians from the Metropolitan Opera and AMOC* (American Modern Opera Company) in honor of World Oceans Day at the Arts Center at Governors Island. The event will examine our relationship with the natural world, celebrate our interconnectedness with the sea, and offer attendees ways to take civic and collective action toward protecting our oceans. World Oceans Day: A Musical Celebration, The Arts Center at Governors Island, New York, NY
Sunday, June 28, 2026 — Emily Brausa and friends perform the water in your body is just visiting on Rockaway Chamber Music’s series at Arverne Cinema, New York, NY
Past Performances
Saturday, February 7, 2026 — Acorn Projects Presents Ecologies featuring the US premiere of Lanzilotti’s the water in your body is just visiting performed by Dan Galat & Ilana Waniuk (violins), Myra Hinrichs (viola), and Kelly Quesada (cello), Scribble, Los Angeles, CA
Monday, July 7, 2025 — INEO Quartet premieres the water in your body is just visiting at Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. For the final concert of the string quartet residency, made up of quartets under the guidance of the Quatuor Diotima and composer Unsuk Chin, the work will be premiered alongside Unsuk Chin's ParaMetaString. Aix-en-Provence, France