Initially a chemistry major, Kunzel graduated from Dartmouth College with a degree in music, where he was a member of Phi Delta Theta, then studied at Harvard and Brown universities.

From the beginning, Kunzel strove to expand the Cincinnati Pops' reach worldwide, with nearly 90 recordings on the Telarc label,[3] most of which became bestsellers.

Ten years later, he and the Cincinnati Pops were invited back to perform at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; they were the only American orchestra to play at the event.

From the Capitol Building lawn, Kunzel conducted the National Symphony Orchestra every Memorial Day and Fourth of July from 1991 to 2009, in concerts televised nationwide on PBS.

[4] In 1987, his Aaron Copland: Lincoln Portrait (CD-80117) album with narration by Katharine Hepburn including Old American Songs sung by Sherrill Milnes received a Grammy nomination.

He invited many local performers, including children's choruses and College-Conservatory students, to share the stage with the Pops.

In April 2009, Kunzel was diagnosed with pancreatic, liver and colon cancer and received chemotherapy treatments in Cincinnati.

[8] He conducted a final concert at Riverbend on August 1, 2009, and died a month later in Bar Harbor, Maine, near his home at Swan's Island.