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Neither do we. Find your musical home in Thailand.
Neither do we. Find your musical home in Thailand.
Asia is home to extraordinary young orchestral talent. Every country in the region has a national youth orchestra — but each one draws only from its own citizens. For the many gifted young musicians who grow up across borders, study in international schools, and build their musical lives between cultures, there has been no regional programme to bring them together. TIYO was created to fill that gap. Open to the finest school-aged players from across Asia, it welcomes everyone — those who belong to a national programme and those who do not.
TIYO students will work with professionals of the highest calibre, with faculty drawn from leading orchestras and conservatoires across Asia and beyond. The programme is open to instrumentalists aged 12–20 from all nationalities.
Applications open 1 August 2026. Excerpt files will be available for download from this portal.
TIYO is a residential orchestral programme of one week, designed to operate at the intensity of a professional training environment. Every element of the schedule is purpose-built for ensemble development.
The programme is held at Rugby School Thailand, Chonburi. Participants are accommodated on the school's residential campus. The programme fee is ฿45,000 THB, which is all-inclusive: tuition, accommodation, meals and transport from Bangkok to the campus on request. Flights to Bangkok are the responsibility of participants.
The structure is built around a single core objective: preparing two fully-staged public concerts — at the Teepsuwan Auditorium on 12 February and Silpakorn University Main Hall, Bangkok on 14 February — performed to a professional standard. Every rehearsal, coaching session and masterclass is oriented towards that goal.
TIYO accepts all standard orchestral instruments. Wind applicants are encouraged to audition on doubling instruments. Percussion and timpani applicants submit video auditions and may record each excerpt separately, on instruments available to them.
The programme concludes with two public concerts:
These are fully-staged orchestral concerts, programmed and rehearsed to a professional standard. Full details will be announced with the opening of applications.
A number of scholarships are available to support participants and their families for whom the programme fee would otherwise be a barrier. Scholarship applications are submitted alongside the standard audition application. Results are announced simultaneously with audition outcomes on 31 October 2026.
TIYO is committed to selecting participants on musical merit alone. Financial circumstances should not determine whether a talented young musician can attend.
TIYO's inaugural 2027 faculty bring together professional orchestral musicians and educators from across Asia and beyond, each with significant experience coaching young musicians at pre-professional level.
All auditions for a given instrument are assessed by the same panel of professional orchestral musicians. Panel composition is confidential. Results are final and will not be discussed outside the TIYO audition team.
TIYO is hosted at Rugby School Thailand in Chonburi — one of Southeast Asia's finest educational campuses — with the inaugural season's concerts taking place at two exceptional venues.
Rugby School Thailand is the Southeast Asian campus of Rugby School, one of England's oldest and most distinguished independent schools. Set on a beautifully landscaped campus in Chonburi Province, the school offers facilities of a standard rarely found outside the world's leading boarding institutions.
For the duration of the TIYO programme, participants are accommodated in the school's residential boarding houses, with all meals provided on campus. The self-contained campus environment allows the programme to operate at the intensity of a professional training residency — insulated from the logistics and distractions of hotel or day-school alternatives.
Orchestral rehearsals, sectional coaching, masterclasses and chamber music sessions all take place on campus. The schedule is structured to maximise ensemble contact time across the seven days, building steadily towards the two closing concerts.
The centrepiece performance venue at Rugby School Thailand — a purpose-built, 750-seat auditorium equipped to professional concert standard. The Teepsuwan Auditorium hosts the main body of TIYO's orchestral rehearsals throughout the week, giving participants the rare advantage of rehearsing in the same hall in which they will eventually perform.
On the evening of 12 February, the full TIYO ensemble gives its first public concert here, in front of families, school guests and the wider Chonburi community.
The TIYO inaugural season closes with a final concert at the Main Hall of Silpakorn University in Bangkok — one of Thailand's most distinguished cultural institutions and a natural home for a programme of this ambition.
Silpakorn University, founded in 1943, is Thailand's foremost university of the arts. Its Main Hall is an established and respected venue in Bangkok's cultural calendar, known for its warm acoustic and formal setting. The concert on 14 February is open to the public and marks the official close of TIYO's inaugural season.
Performing in Bangkok on the closing evening places the programme in direct dialogue with the city's established classical music community, and gives families and supporters who cannot travel to Chonburi the opportunity to hear the ensemble at full strength.
All applicants submit a recorded video audition through the TIYO portal. Below is a complete guide to everything required. For questions, contact admissions@tiyo.org.
TIYO is open to instrumentalists aged 12 to 20. Exceptions to the age range may be made at the discretion of the Artistic Director. Applicants must be available to participate in the full programme season.
The minimum standard varies by instrument, reflecting the different technical demands of orchestral playing across sections. As a general guide, applicants should be working at or above ABRSM or Trinity Grade 8 level. For many instruments — particularly strings, where orchestral demand is highest — the typical successful applicant will be working significantly beyond this level. Grade 8 is a starting point, not a ceiling. The audition panel assesses each instrument on its own terms, and applicants are encouraged to submit regardless of whether they hold formal grade qualifications.
Each submission must begin with a brief video introduction of no longer than 30 seconds. State clearly:
Applicants must perform four orchestral excerpts selected by TIYO. Excerpts will be available for download from the TIYO portal on 1 August 2026. Each excerpt will be provided as a marked part file with bowings, articulations and fingerings indicated where relevant.
Guidelines for preparing your excerpts:
All applicants must perform a piece of their own choice. An accompanist is not required, and a complete work is not required — a carefully selected passage of a longer piece is entirely acceptable. The piece should be between 3 and 5 minutes in length.
Choose a work that demonstrates your technical proficiency and emphasises your musicianship and musical personality. Discuss your selection with your instrumental teacher.
Applicants wishing to be considered for the position of Concertmaster must submit the standard audition requirements — four orchestral excerpts and an own choice piece — plus a selection of designated orchestral solo excerpts. These will feature prominent violin solos from the orchestral repertoire, such as those in Scheherazade (Rimsky-Korsakov) and Symphony No. 1 (Brahms).
Full details and marked excerpt files will be provided via the TIYO portal on 1 August 2026. Shortlisted Concertmaster candidates may be invited to an informal meeting with the Artistic Director following the video assessment round.
The following elements must be recorded as separate video files:
Technical requirements:
Wind applicants are encouraged to audition on doubling instruments alongside their primary instrument. Accepted auxiliary instruments include piccolo, cor anglais, E♭ clarinet, bass clarinet and contrabassoon. A separate excerpt set is available for each auxiliary instrument; an own choice piece is not required for auxiliary instruments.
TIYO recognises that some auxiliary instruments — particularly bass clarinet and contrabassoon — may not be readily accessible to all applicants. If you do not have reliable access to your auxiliary instrument for recording purposes, contact admissions@tiyo.org to discuss alternative arrangements. Applicants will not be disadvantaged for making this request.
Percussion and timpani applicants submit video auditions in the same way as all other instruments. We encourage applications from across the region regardless of access to specific instruments — each excerpt may be recorded separately and on whatever appropriate instrument is available to you, whether at your school, conservatoire, teacher's studio, or another accessible location.
Please state briefly in your video introduction what instrument you are using and where it was recorded. The panel assesses technique, musicality, and rhythmic accuracy — not instrument quality or recording environment. Timpani applicants should note the tuning of the instrument used.
Percussion applicants are not required to audition separately for timpani. However, applicants wishing to be considered for timpani must also submit the designated timpani excerpts in addition to their percussion excerpts. Separate excerpt sets are provided for each. All instruments required during the programme will be provided by TIYO.
All applicants will receive a result by the announced results date. Outcomes are: successful, reserve, or unsuccessful. Due to the volume of applications, TIYO is not able to provide individual feedback on auditions.
Receiving a reserve offer is a genuine achievement and reflects a high standard of playing. Reserve applicants may be offered a place should a confirmed participant withdraw. The reserve list is confidential; TIYO is not able to disclose individual reserve positions. Reserve status remains active until the start of the programme.
All auditions for the same instrument are assessed by the same panel of professional orchestral musicians. The composition of the panel is confidential. Results are confidential and will not be discussed outside the TIYO audition panel and artistic team.
Upload completed recordings to the TIYO application portal. Once submitted, TIYO will not accept revisions except in exceptional circumstances. We recommend submitting before the due date to avoid last-minute technical difficulties.
All recordings are collected solely for the purpose of assessing applications and are strictly confidential. They will only be viewed by the TIYO audition panel and artistic team, and will be retained on file for two years from the date of receipt.
TIYO offers a range of partnership and sponsorship opportunities for organisations and individuals who share our belief in the transformative power of serious musical training. All support directly funds scholarships, faculty, and the programme itself.
Chair sponsors are acknowledged by name on the TIYO website throughout the season and in the printed concert programme. Each chair is named for its sponsor for the duration of the inaugural season.
TIYO is grateful to the individuals and families who have supported the programme through personal giving. Donors are listed in recognition of contributions received ahead of the inaugural season.
We welcome conversations with organisations and individuals who share our commitment to musical excellence. Our team is happy to discuss bespoke partnership arrangements that align with your interests and objectives.
Applications are open to young musicians aged 12–18 from across Asia. Exceptions may be considered at the discretion of the Artistic Director.. Selected participants will join Thailand's first international pre-professional orchestral programme, hosted at Rugby School Thailand, Chonburi.
Your application reference number is shown above. Please keep it for your records. Your application will be reviewed once payment is confirmed — this typically takes 1–2 business days.
After making payment, please send your payment confirmation (screenshot or receipt) to:
info@tiyo.org
with the subject line TIYO-2027-0000 — Payment Confirmation
A member of our team will confirm receipt within 2 business days. Results will be announced by 31 October 2026.
