I Am was commissioned by Craig Aune and the Cedar Rapids Prairie High School Band of Cedar Rapids, Iowa in February 1990. It was written in memory of Lynn Jones, a baritone saxophone player in the band who was killed in an auto accident during that winter. The work is basically tonal in nature, but includes extended techniques such as an aleatoric section and singing from members of the ensemble. The aleatoric section is intended to represent the foggy morning of the crash in which Jones died. The words "I Am" are taken from a poem that he wrote just days before his death. The piece is not intended in any way to be an elegy. Instead, it is a celebration, and reaffirmation, of life.

I Am

Life, Music, Competition.

I like exciting things, and doing good for others.

Beauty, Successfulness and Smartness are important to me.

I like to achieve recognition.

I can succeed if I really put my mind to it.

I am very set in my ways,

But I can change when I realize my ignorance.

I like a simple nonchalant lifestyle.

I hate ignorance.

I hate structuredness.

This is me. I am!

  --Lynn Jones January 1990