Program Note

Jasper Drag was commissioned by Michigan State University and the Phillips Collection for the Verdehr Trio. The title refers to the June 7, 1998 Jasper, Texas incident, wherein three white men dragged a black man to his death after chaining him to the back of a pickup truck. The composer writes, “This composition is not intended to tell a story, or even to evoke images. Jasper Drag is meant to be a marker on the collective memory of a nation still growing. The score is inscribed to the memory of James Byrd, Jr., the victim of this racially motivated act.” – Carman Moore (2000)