Longtime Swans Island resident and internationally known pops conductor Erich Kunzel has been awarded a 2006 National Medal of Arts by President Bush. The medal is the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the U.S. government. The National Endowment for the Arts oversees the nomination process of the award.

Ten medals were presented by the President and Laura Bush in an Oval Office ceremony in the White House on Nov. 9. Among the other recipients were dancer Cyd Charisse and folk musician Ralph Stanley. Kunzel, who was consulting in Asia at the time, was unable to attend the festivities in Washington, but will receive his medal in a private ceremony in December.

“I am most grateful to President George W. Bush and the NEA for presenting me with a 2006 National Medal of Arts,” said Kunzel in a statement from China. “Music is a universal language understood and enjoyed by peoples of all nations. I am proud to have been able to bring the music of America across the oceans and am humbled by this great honor.”

For the last 40 years, Kunzel has been the conductor for the Cincinnati Pops, and had more than 80 pops recordings.

He first came to Maine to study with and eventually become the personal assistant to legendary conductor Pierre Monteux, whose school in Hancock has been a training center for serious orchestral musicians for half a century.

In a career that has since spanned musical styles and has included many accolades, Kunzel has been called the “Prince of Pops.” He and his wife, Brunhilde, spend about half the year on Swans Island.