Founded at the initiative of Artistic Director Cho-Liang Lin in 2019, the Taipei Music Academy & Festival Orchestra (TMAF Orchestra) is a collective effort of teachers and students. Comprising young musicians aged 15 to 30 from around the world, selected through auditions and completing two weeks of intensive training, they embark on a concert tour under the guidance of renowned maestros.
Distinguished conductors who have led the TMAF Orchestra in past performances include Jahja Ling (2019), Leonard Slatkin (2021), Kent Nagano (2022), and Leonard Slatkin, returning in 2023. The orchestra has received acclaim for performances at venues such as the National Concert Hall in Taipei, the National Taichung Theater, National Kaohsiung Center for the Arts(Weiwuying), the Chimei Museum, the Frost Amphitheater at Stanford University, and the Caroline H. Hume Concert Hall at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
In recent years, the TMAF Orchestra has become one of Asia’s prominent music events, conducting annual summer tours. The festival invites young musicians aged 15 to 30 to immerse themselves in an inspiring learning environment with world-class music faculty.
Each participant in the festival receives daily instruction directly from the maestros. The curriculum covers solo repertoire, orchestral repertoire, preparation for orchestra auditions, musician professionalism training, and performance skills instruction. In addition to chamber music-related programs, teachers collaborate with students in orchestral rehearsals and performances, providing guidance and real-time instruction. The student-teacher ratio is approximately 3:1 for wind instruments and 4:1 for string instruments.