The group is classified as a non-profit organization (501(c)(3)) and operates primarily on grant money and donations for individual and corporate supporters.
The Texas Early Music project was initially conceived of as an opportunity for student members of The University of Texas at Austin Early Music Ensemble to work and perform with professional musicians, allowing them to explore a wider repertoire and gain performance experience.
Between 1995 and 2002, TEMP's orchestra performed in several productions with the UT Opera Theater, including Purcell's Dido and Aeneas, "Baroque and Loving It" (a pastiche of selections from the works of Lully, Rameau, Cavalli, Cesti, and others, arranged by conductor Daniel Johnson), Cavalli's L'Ormindo, Monteverdi's Coronation of Poppea, and Handel's Alcina and Rinaldo.
[3] Local performers and guests from Europe and Canada came together for performances of Handel's Rinaldo and Alcina, Purcell's King Arthur, and other works from the diverse early music repertoire ranging from Hildegard of Bingen's chants to Sephardic love songs to lieder by Schubert and Beethoven.
More recently, in 2012, the ensemble performed Hildegard of Bingen's Ordo Virtutum to a sold-out concert hall in downtown Austin.