“Erich Kunzel said he feels fine, but he is preparing for the battle of his life,” writes Janelle Gelfand in Friday’s (5/1) Cincinnati Enquirer. “The 74-year-old Cincinnati Pops conductor was diagnosed on Wednesday with pancreatic, liver and colon cancer and will be undergoing chemotherapy treatment in Cincinnati. … In the more than four decades that he has worked with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and three decades since the Pops was founded, Kunzel has made the Cincinnati Pops a household name in Cincinnati. Last summer, he led the orchestra in concerts at the Beijing Olympics, the only American orchestra invited to do so. He called the invitation ‘the highlight of my life.’ Kunzel said he knows it is important to remain positive, and that his doctors had told him a good mental outlook and a strong body will help his immune system fight the cancer. … Kunzel will begin chemotherapy treatments in Cincinnati on May 11, after he has conducted the Pops’ season finale concerts in Music Hall with vocalist Sandi Patty Friday, next Saturday and Sunday.”
Posted May 6, 2009
Photo credit: Mark Lyons
