Michael Barrett

New York Festival of Song Associate Artistic Director Michael Barrett started NYFOS in 1988 with his friend and colleague Steven Blier. In 1992, he co-founded the Moab Music Festival with violist Leslie Tomkins. From 1994 to 1997, he was the Director of the Tisch Center for the Arts at the 92^nd Street Y in New York, and from 2003 to 2012, he was Chief Executive and General Director of the Caramoor Center for Music and the Arts in Katonah, NY. He is currently busy working on the Leonard Bernstein Centennial as a producer, conductor, and pianist.

He has distinguished himself as a conductor with major orchestras in the United States and abroad. He began his long association with Leonard Bernstein as a student in 1982 and served as Maestro Bernstein’s assistant conductor from 1985-1990. 

A champion of new music, Barrett has conducted and played premieres by 60 composers. He oversees Nyfos Next, a NYC series examining the latest in songwriting by established and young composers.

Dedicated to music education, Barrett oversees the innovative education programs of the Moab Music Festival. He is also active in the creation of new educational programs for symphony orchestras in collaboration with Jamie Bernstein. Their programs have been performed throughout the United States, Asia, Cuba and Europe.

Born in Guam and raised in California, Barrett attended the University of California at Berkeley and is a graduate of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, where he studied piano with Paul Hersh. He holds master’s degrees in conducting and piano performance.