Established in 1972 by Albert Fuller and Lee Elman, the Aston Magna Foundation for Music was created to serve as a center for the study and performance of seventeenth and eighteenth century music. The original site of the Foundation in Great Barrington, Massachusetts was the former summer home of the violinist Albert Spalding. Although the Foundation faced some initial problems with the local community over turning the property, which was located in a primarily residential area, into an educational and performance facility, the group eventually prevailed in its plans and soon would expand its offerings to additional venues in Great Barrington and elsewhere in the region.

Primary summer activities of the Foundation include educational programs (called the Academy after 1978) that brought together scholars, artists, and students to study the music of the period using a cross-disciplinary approach. Inspired by the model of Renaissance and Baroque academies, these Academy programs, under the direction of Raymond Erickson, concentrate on a different theme each year. Subjects covered by past Academies have included (1978), (1982) and (1997).

The other main component of the summer program is the annual Aston Magna Festival. This series of concerts features public performances of music of the period by specialists and program participants using original or authentic replica instruments in a historically accurate manner. For example, for its Fifth Anniversary Festival in 1977, Aston Magna presented the first contemporary public performance of Johann Sebastian Bach's complete Brandenburg cycle on original instruments. Recordings of several Festival concerts have been released commercially, including (1978), (1990) and (1992).

Now known officially as the Aston Magna Foundation for Music and the Humanities, the Foundation continues to build upon its original mission as it engages with a wider public through enhanced educational programs, as well as additional performances offered throughout the year.