The Fargo Moorhead Area Youth Symphony (FMAYS), as it was originally named, had great plans from the beginning. The dream child of Loris Tjknavorian, composer and conductor at Moorhead State University (now Minnesota State University Moorhead), FMAYS was founded in 1967. FMAYS was organized to give musically talented senior and junior high school students from the Fargo Moorhead area an opportunity to expand their musical experiences.

In the mid 1970s, four Moorhead Public School teachers reorganized FMAYS: Dewey Possehl, Eunice Pitmon, Jack Harris, and Bruce Houglum. These individuals designed the program as an addition to the junior and senior high school music education in the community. They established the purpose “to provide additional opportunity for participation and enrichment in orchestral playing and to instill a desire on the part of the student participants to develop musicianship.” They stressed that players were expected to participate in and retain allegiance to their school instrumental music programs.

FMAYS divided into two separate groups in 1993: the Junior High Concert Strings for students in grades 6 through 8, and the Senior High Symphony Orchestra for students grades 9 through 12.