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Irma Lazarus Award

Erich Kunzel, Cincinnati

View video tribute (3:05 minutes, 10M)

Erich Kunzel has been Conductor of the Cincinnati Pops for nearly 30 years. He has been a beloved part of the Cincinnati community since his first appearance in 1965 when he was invited by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra to conduct an 8 O’Clock Pops Concert at Music Hall. Under Kunzel’s leadership the Pops program was so successful the CSO Board officially established the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra in 1977. His credits include80 Pops recordings on the Telarc label, 54of which have appeared on the Billboard charts; four consecutive years as Billboard Magazine’s Classical Crossover Artist of the Year; and seven nationally televised Pops specials on PBS. Pops recordings have been popular and well-selling and have received many awards, among them a Grammy Award. Since 1991, he has led the National Symphony on the lawn of the U.S. Capitol in nationally televised Memorial Day and Fourth of July concerts. In October 2005, the Cincinnati Pops was the first Pops orchestra to tour China, performing in Beijing and Shanghai. For years, the free Concert in the Parks series in Cincinnati, conducted by Maestro Kunzel, brought music to the community. But Maestro Kunzel’s impact extends far beyond his role with the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops. He has conducted the Cincinnati Opera, served on the faculty of the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, helped raise funds for the Cincinnati Zoo’s CREW program and is Chairman of the Greater Cincinnati Arts & Education Center. Erich Kunzel is an Ohio artist who not only makes a significant impact on his discipline statewide, nationally and internationally but has re-invented the pops genre and increased its popularity throughout the world.