waterwalk (2025) marimba and oboe duet · 3 minutes · intermediate+
waterwalk was commissioned by Duo Fuego (Zachary Cook and Julian Rivera) and premiered on June 10, 2025 at the 54th International Double Reed Society Conference.
Water striders are a species of insect that can walk on water. If you watch them, it looks like they are almost "glitching" across the water, as they move very quickly and suddenly.
I grew up near a creek, and I would often wander through the creek, watching the wildlife nearby. When I was younger, it was often the larger, flashier creatures that would catch my attention—owls, birds, coyotes. Over time, I've learned to be fascinated by the little things too—like the delicate wandering of a water strider.
waterwalk is about watching these little critters dart across the water on a summer's day, and looking for the little charming details in life.
My friends and I put together an arrangement of this tune for asalato, marimba, and oboe, as part of our band woodwork. A video can be found here, or below.
The cover art for waterwalk uses Gerridae on a lake by Olexandr Ostrovyi, used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Changes were made to the original photo.