From a study of multinational corporations to an opera confronting missing and murdered Indigenous women, six new works showcase the breadth of inquiry across URochester’s faculty.
Multinational Order: US Firms and International Organization
Political science professor Randall Stone examines how American multinational corporations have shaped—and been shaped by—global governance structures, tracing how firms influence regulatory frameworks, economic policy, and transnational cooperation. He argues that corporations are not merely market actors but central participants in constructing and sustaining international order. (Cambridge University Press)
Self-Realization Nation: How Artists of the Creative Counterculture Made a New America
Eastman historian and musicologist John Kapusta offers a lively cultural history of postwar performers who redefined artistic and personal freedom. Through vivid portraits of musicians, dancers, and experimental artists, he charts how their embrace of self-realization transformed the arts, psychology, education, and wellness—establishing authenticity as an enduring American ideal. (University of California Press)
Soviet Rock on Screen: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of a Film Genre
Assistant Professor of Russian Rita Safariants documents the unlikely ascent of Soviet rock cinema, a genre born from Cold War tensions and underground music scenes. Safariants shows how the films reflected perestroika-era upheaval and continue to influence Russian cultural identity, even as shifting political forces reshape their meaning and legacy. (University of Wisconsin Press)
Glass: Itaipú
Professor of Conducting and Ensembles Brad Lubman leads the Munich Philharmonic in a sweeping performance of Philip Glass’s Itaipú, a monumental choral-orchestral work inspired by a vast hydroelectric dam. Lubman’s interpretation highlights both the meditative pull and dramatic scale of Glass’s vision, capturing the work’s immersive sonic landscape. (Münchner Philharmoniker)
Tyzik Joyride: The Music of Jeff Tyzik
The Eastman Wind Ensemble, under Mark Davis Scatterday, delivers a vibrant program celebrating the genre-crossing compositions of Jeff Tyzik ’73E, ’77E (MM). Blending classical precision with jazz vitality, the album showcases the ensemble’s virtuosity and stylistic range. Performances by high-profile alumni artists enhance the technical brilliance and joyful energy that define Tyzik’s music—and his abiding connection to Eastman.
(Summit Records)
Missing
Professor of Opera Timothy Long ’92E (MM) conducts this stirring contemporary opera confronting the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. With music by Brian Current and a libretto by Marie Clements, the recording follows a young woman transformed by a spiritual encounter. Fusing contemporary classical music with Indigenous language and traditions, this work functions as both elegy and call to action, demanding these lives not be forgotten. (Bright Shiny Things)
This story appears in the spring 2026 issue of Rochester Review, the magazine of the University of Rochester.
