Founded in 2008 by conductor and educator Nikk Pilato, as of 2024 the WRP includes over 26,000 entries on individual compositions and composers.

[2] Built on the MediaWiki framework,[2] WRP is a collaborative wiki site, guest editors can contribute their own additions and discussions.

[3][W 1] Pilato originally developed the idea as a potential doctoral dissertation during graduate work at Florida State University; intending the dissertation to be a "document comprising a listing of wind repertory information,"[W 2] inspired by conductor David Daniels,[W 1] whose Orchestral Music: A Handbook served a similar role for orchestral music.

[5][W 3] Each composition entry includes instrumentation, program notes, erratas, state ratings and performance histories.

[6] The Wind Repertory Project stands with the ChoralWiki and Musopen as among the most prominent online music repertoire databases.