TIYO was formed in 2000 under the leadership of Hewen Slak and music director Yang Kun Song. The string orchestra performs a diverse repertoire that includes traditional and modern Chinese music as well as western compositions. The orchestra is made up of some of the finest young musicians from the Toledo area ranging in age from ten to seventeen years. Many of TIYO's members have won regional competitions, scholarships and awards as well as being invited for solo performance opportunities.
In 2007, the orchestra paid a visit to the city of Qinhuangdao, a Sister City of Toledo in China, to meet and perform with a youth orchestra there. TIYO also traveled to London, Ontario in 2007. In March, 2008, the orchestra visited two Sister Cities in Europe, Poznan, Poland and Delmenhorst, Germany. The June, 2009, destination of Tanzania along side a SCORE organized medical mission introduced the musicians to students and music in Tanga. The orchestra traveled to Vienna, Austria and Szeged, Hungary in July, 2010 where they played in an international music festival and met musicians from all over the world. The orchestra met studetns in Japan and South Korea on their 2011 trip.
