The Yale Baroque Opera Project (YBOP) was founded in 2007 to introduce Yale students to historical and aesthetic studies related to Italian opera from the 17th and early 18th centuries. Each year, Yale undergraduates audition and enroll in a course that culminates in a fully staged production of a baroque opera. After months of music coaching and staging rehearsals, students have the unique opportunity to perform in a professionally directed and designed production at the University Theater in New Haven, Connecticut.

YBOP was originally funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation through a Distinguished Achievement Award granted to Ellen Rosand, George A. Saden Professor Emeritus of Music at Yale University.