The most successful classical/crossover recording artist in chart history, Erich Kunzel rose to fame during his lengthy reign as the conductor of the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. Educated at Dartmouth, Harvard, and Brown Universities, he studied under French conductor Pierre Montreux, later serving as his personal assistant; in 1965, Kunzel was invited by music director Max Rudolph to join the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, soon taking over their Eight O'Clock Pops series. His affinity for the pops repertoire was immediate, and in 1970 Arthur Fiedler invited him to conduct the Boston Pops; in the years to follow, he returned to Boston annually to assume guest conductor duties, and by the time the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra was officially established in 1977, Kunzel was the obvious choice for conductor.
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