Our Mission

Concert Winds: for young musicians with at least one year’s playing experience
Symphonic Winds: for more accomplished musicians at a strong high-school level
Wind Orchestra: for our most experienced musicians, typically a mix of high-school and university students

Auditions are held annually in September and occasionally musicians may find an opening during the season. Each group rehearses weekly during the school year and participates in concerts throughout the season, with acclaimed guest artists or guest conductors, at some of the Greater Toronto Area’s finest concert venues. The Wind Orchestra tours periodically and has played on the stages of Carnegie Hall in New York and Disney Hall in Los Angeles, in an international band festival in Shanghai China as the invited guests of the Chinese government. In 2019, TYWO was one of only seven bands worldwide, and the only youth band selected to perform at the biennial conference of the World Association of Symphonic Bands and Ensembles (WASBE) in Buñol, Spain. Guest artists have included the Canadian Brass, the US Army Herald Trumpets, Jens Lindemann and conductors Johan de Meij, Eric Whitacre, Brian Balmages and John Mackey. As part of its educational outreach, TYWO performs student concerts annually, attended by more than 1,000 elementary and secondary students from the Greater Toronto Region and beyond.

TYWO has a volunteer Board of Directors that provides governance, along with an Artistic Director, Executive Director, Conductors and Personnel Managers who work directly with the ensembles. TYWO makes every effort to make its program attainable to all talented musicians with a bursary fund and an instrument loan program for those with demonstrated financial need. A registered charity, TYWO gratefully accepts the support of sponsors and donors and is registered with Canada Helps.