Boston Baroque, the oldest continuing Baroque orchestra in North America, was founded in 1973 by American harpsichordist and conductor, Martin Pearlman. With Pearlman as its music director, the ensemble performs Baroque and Classical repertoire on period instruments, drawing on the insights of the historical performance movement. The Boston Baroque professional chamber chorus was established as an integral part of the ensemble in 1981. Boston Baroque is the current resident professional ensemble for Boston University's Historical Performance Program.

Originally named "Banchetto Musicale", the orchestra was renamed Boston Baroque in 1992, when Telarc Records, in its first commitment to a period-instrument orchestra, signed the ensemble to produce a series of recordings for international commercial distribution. As of 2010, there are nineteen recordings in the series, three of which have received Grammy nominations.

Boston Baroque presents an annual subscription concert series in Greater Boston, Massachusetts; has performed in Carnegie Hall, Chicago's Shubert Theatre, Los Angeles's Disney Hall, and at the Ravinia and Tanglewood festivals; and has toured internationally.