http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20090901/ENT03/308120005/Erich+Kunzel+dies+at+74 Star Trek fans may know him from the Symphonic Star Trek CD that he released as conductor of the Cincinnati Pops. He also did a small tour with John De Lancie and Robert Picardo as conductor of Star Trek: The Music last year. From Wikipedia: I was lucky enough to see Kunzel perform many times, including his Star Trek: The Music concert. He was a gifted conductor and a colorful person. He will be missed.
Aw, man! I live near Cincinnati, and was privileged more than once to see the great Erich Kunzel in action. My old music teacher knew him personally and it was so much fun to see the Cincinnati Pops perform, to listen to them play. Excellent, excellent orchestra, conducted by a very capable and talented conductor, one Mr. Erich Kunzel. I had heard a snippet of something on the news earlier, but I just thought they were announcing the schedule for the Cincinnati Pops. This is a terrible shame. We have lost a gifted man, at least in my own humble opinion. I think I'll call my old music teacher and see how he is. J.
I listened to that CD so much it's practically unplayable now and believe it or not, I prefer his arrangements of all the themes over the originals! I love the last track, and the other sound effect tracks "Resist ants is use less! You will be assima lated!"
I feel much the same way. I bought the CD when it first came out and have played it countless times over the years. Kunzel's arrangements were fantastic. The same was true for Star Trek: The Music. Here is what was played during the concert. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_The_Music I saw it last summer and it was really a special night. The venue was outdoors and it was a nice, somewhat cool, summer evening. I sat back and listened to one of the best pops orchestras in the world play my favorite pieces of Star Trek music. It was fantastic. I've enjoyed every Cincinnati Pops concert that I've gotten a chance to attend and Kunzel was a major reason for that. It won't be the same without him.
I went to play my CD and found it missing from the case! So I went to Amazon.com and ordered a new one. I can't wait until it gets here because now I really want to listen to his work again. J.
I have all his soundtrack cd's. Listened to them many times. I finally got to see him with the Naples Philharmonic, his summer home, a few years ago. It was awesome! RIP
Dang, not good news. He was one of the cool ones and it will be a sad day in the music world as well as ours.
It's kind of amazing the popularity Symphonic Star Trek gained. There are lots of compilation-type orchestral CDs out there of Star Trek music. But this CD was superb, in a class by itself. Star Tracks before it was also a big part of my early CD ownership life. Sad to hear the mastermind behind them is gone.