Herbert Barrett (talent manager)

Herbert Barrett (May 31, 1910 – November 5, 2007) was an influential talent manager and publicist in the classical music world during the second half of the twentieth century. In 1940 he founded Herbert Barrett Management, serving as the firm's president until 1996. He remained a chairman at the firm up until his death eleven years later. During his career he managed the careers of hundreds of artists, including Sherrill Milnes, Jennie Tourel, Eileen Farrell, Shirley Verrett, John Browning, Joseph Szigeti and Ralph Kirkpatrick.

Born in New York City, Barrett was the son of Mollie Pike, a seamstress in the fur industry. He had two siblings and his father left the family early in his childhood. He attended Cornell University where he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1930. He began working as a publicist in 1933 and over the next seven years built an impressive roster of artists and artistic organizations that included clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman, dancer Martha Graham, impresario Sol Hurok, the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México. During this period he also managed the national radio press coverage for the Cadillac Motor Car Company and General Motors, associations which led to collaborations with George Gershwin, Jascha Heifetz and Arturo Toscanini.