Members of the orchestra have consistently been chosen to represent the province in Honour groups and National festivals. Of the more than seven hundred alumni of the Saskatoon Youth Orchestra many have pursued careers in music. Directors have included Alexander Reisman, Dr. David Kaplan, Dwaine Nelson, Alfred Dahl, Jack Johnson, Fred Nelson, Bok Soo Kim, Jeremy Zank, Mel Carey and Francois Mirand. The SYO consists of three programs. In addition to the orchestra itself the organization includes a group of excellent young string players directed by Terrence Sturge called the Saskatoon Strings and a Double Bass program instructed by Doug Gilmour.
Members study privately and audition for membership.
The groups rehearse every Saturday morning from September through May at Aden Bowman Collegiate. The SYO serves musicians from a broad area including Lanigan, Asquith, and Moose Jaw. The program consists of elementary, high school, and university students. The orchestra's repertoire consists of professional calibre music in a broad range of styles. The directors have made a consistent deliberate effort to select Canadian compositions for the repertoire.