The Symphony Orchestra began its activity in 1906 under the direction of Maestro Alberto Castilla. It has been directed by great Colombian and foreign teachers and has been presented in different places around the world, raising the name of the Tolima Conservatory and the city of Ibagué (Tolima). 

The Orchestra has been conducted by important musicians such as Alfredo Squarcetta, Demetrio Haralambis, Giuiseppe Gagliano, Alfred Hering, Quarto Testa, Fritz Vögelin, Paul Dury, Leonid Mullaev, Christoph Hagel, Germán Gutiérrez, Dimitri Manolov, David Mc Kenzie, Felipe Aguirre, German Céspedes, José de los Santos Pérez, Guerasimm Voronkov, Andrea Vela and Tetsuo kagehira.

This group is made up of teachers, students and graduates of the Master of Music and Bachelor of Music programs. Currently, it is under the direction of Maestro Sergio Andrés Sánchez, renowned director and arranger.

As a University Orchestra, its main objective is to train high-level professional musicians by staging symphonic works from different periods, genres and styles. This is achieved through the development of periodic concerts at the Alberto Castilla Hall and in different venues at a regional, national and international level, in events such as the International Guitar Festival, Frank Preuss International Violin Competition, the Colombian Music Festival, Third meeting of University Choirs and Orchestras, among others.

Since the Creation of the International Piano Festival of the Tolima Conservatory in 2008, the Institutional Symphony Orchestra accompanies national and international artists such as Ching Yun Hu (Taiwan), Jorge Luis Prats (Cuba), Alexandre Moutouzkine (Russia), Adonis González(Cuba), Sophia Liu (China-Canada), Mac McClure(USA), Juan Andrés Acosta (Colombia), Luis Andrés Castellanos (Colombia), Vaclav Palc (Czech Republic), Sergei Sichkov (Russia), Radostina Petkova (Russia) and Lezlye Berrio (Colombia), among others.