The " Real " King Of Pop... ;-)

Today I worked at Music Hall and saw potraits plus other pieces of history about Erich Kunzel... Our Conductor... So here is some of what I have read



Eruch Kunzel, conductor of much-recorded Cincinnati Pops, dies at 74
Erich Kunzel, whose fame as a pops conductor came closer than anyone else to that of the legendary Arthur Fiedler, died Tuesday of cancer at the age of 74.
For more than 30 years, he led the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, a collaboration preserved on more than 100 recordings that have sold more than 10 million copies.

Mr. Kunzel had an unmistakable gift for the pops idiom and a flair for communicating his enthusiasm. His talents reached a large TV audience thanks to the many Fourth of July concerts he conducted with the National Symphony Orchestra that were broadcast on PBS from the grounds of the US Capitol.
Here are some more details from Lisa Cornwell's obituary for the AP:

Kunzel was diagnosed with liver, colon and pancreatic cancer in April, but continued conducting while undergoing treatment. He died Tuesday morning at a hospital near his home in Swan's Island, Maine, said Chris Pinelo, a spokesman for the Cincinnati Pops.
On July 4, Kunzel conducted a concert at the U.S. Capitol with Aretha Franklin. He had led the National Symphony on the Capitol lawn in nationally televised Memorial Day and Independence Day concerts since 1991.


This year, he also conducted a concert in Beijing, where he and the Cincinnati Pops last year performed in opening festivities for the Summer Olympics.


Kunzel also led the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Pops in many performances.


Born in New York City, Kunzel was educated at Dartmouth, Harvard and Brown universities and began his professional conducting career in 1957 with the Santa Fe Opera. He came to Cincinnati in 1965 as assistant conductor to Max Rudolph, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's former music director. The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra was officially established in 1977 with Kunzel as conductor.


The Cincinnati classical pops ensemble has been one of the most active in the world, maintaining a year-round performing and recording schedule and making numerous television appearances. Kunzel recorded more than 125 albums and was named Billboard Magazine's Classical Crossover Artist of the Year for four consecutive years.


Kunzel received the National Medal of Arts from President George W. Bush in 2006 for outstanding contributions to the arts and was inducted into the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2008.


Kunzel is survived by his wife, Brunhilde.


Maintaining a crowded agenda at an energetic pace throughout his career, Kunzel told The Cincinnati Enquirer in an interview in July that he was stunned by his cancer diagnosis. "It wasn't on the schedule," he said.



~ Susan