Ars Lyrica Houston (ALH) creates world-class performances of early music for a general audience. ALH uses period instruments because they produce a sweeter, more intimate sound than their modern equivalents and are a better vehicle for the performance of Baroque music especially. Founded in 1998 by harpsichordist and conductor Matthew Dirst and incorporated in 2003 as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, ALH produces a yearly series of concerts that range from intimate chamber programs to staged dramatic works. Reviewers have acclaimed the ensemble for its superlative performances of everything from Monteverdi to Mozart. According to the Houston Chronicle, Ars Lyrica “sets the agenda for imaginative period-instrument programming in Houston.”

Under Dirst’s direction, Ars Lyrica has introduced Houston audiences to a number of important early Baroque composers, including Alessandro Scarlatti and Marc-Antoine Charpentier, whose seldom-heard oratorios and operas are among the glories of the age. Ars Lyrica’s numerous Houston premières also include Jacopo Peri’s Euridice (the first surviving opera), Handel's first oratorio, Il Trionfo del Tempo (in its American première), John Blow’s Venus and Adonis (the first English opera) and Claudio Monteverdi’s monumental Vespers of 1610. Ars Lyrica is likewise committed to the continued exploration of later Baroque masterworks, including major works by Bach and Handel, in innovative dramatizations that give new life to even the most familiar scores. Ars Lyrica’s first CD features music of Alessandro Scarlatti, including the modern world première of his oratorio La Concettione della Beata Vergine. These pioneering efforts have made Ars Lyrica “the leader among Houston's early music ensembles” (Houston Chronicle) and have established Houston as a center for historically-informed music making.

Though not yet ten years old, the ensemble has already acquired a national reputation for excellence. In addition to its Houston subscription series in Zilkha Hall at the Hobby Center, performances during the 2005–2006 season included programs at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and the University of Notre Dame, among other venues. Ars Lyrica also works regularly with other institutions and organizations to present early music. Sponsors and collaborators have included: the American Musicological Society, the American Bach Society, the American Guild of Organists, the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston, the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Cypress Creek Foundation for the Arts, the Houston Chamber Choir, Musiqa, St. Philip Presbyterian Church, Foundry United Methodist Church, Palmer Episcopal Church, Ascension Episcopal Church, the Friends of Chamber Music at Christ Church Cathedral, the St. Cecilia Friends of Music, the College Station Friends of Chamber Music, and the Festival-Institute at Round Top.