Ensemble TIMF was founded in 2001 with the goal of establishing a major performance ensemble as a key representative of Korea and an ambassador of the Tongyeong International Music Festival. It has been engaged in intense activities in and outside of Korea and is comprised of excellent young musicians. Its first performance began with the D-100 Concert of TIMF 2002. Since then, it has continuously expanded the range of repertoires and performances to date and established itself as a professional ensemble. With a variety of programs and high-quality performances, it provides audiences of classic and contemporary music with an abundance of richly satisfying experiences.

It has concertized with some of the most renowned composers and pianists around the world, including Unsuk Chin, Tan Dun, Heiner Goebbels, Heinz Holliger, Toshio Hosokawa, Steve Reich, the Ensemble Modern, Martha Argerich, Sergei Nakariakov, Gautier Capucon, Kazuhito Yamashita, and Schola Heidelberg, as well as the top musicians in Korea. Most notably, it was awarded the first prize of the music section during Art Awards of the Year, hosted by the Arts Council Korea, with Rainy Day by Gang Ryul Lee, which it performed on the occasion of 'The night of concertos with pianist Hyungjun Jang and Ensemble TIMF' in 2004. In 2009, it was awarded the Performing Artist award of the year by the Performing Arts Management Association of Korea.

With 'Ensemble TIMF Academy', which began in 2005, it has spearheaded a movement in providing superior education programs for the next generation of musicians by hosting concerts, lessons, and workshops by inviting renowned musicians in and outside of Korea. As a result, it was selected as a prime educator and promoter of concert performers and performances in 2007 by Arts Council Korea, and it received funding for three years. Consequently, the ensemble's excellence has been recognized both domestically and abroad. Currently, the ensemble consistently collaborates with distinguished concert halls in Korea. Through these performances, they introduce music of currently active composers in and outside of Korea and take the initiative in displaying and collaborating with a number of arts genres. Their unique and special performance projects include ‘Music & Electronics’, ‘C-LAB’, ‘Open your Ears’ and ‘Sound on the Edge’.

Moreover, Ensemble TIMF annually plays with finalists of the Isang Yun Competition and has participated in the Korean premieres of such operas as Wozzeck, Salome, and Lulu.

The ensemble's intense activities reach markets not only in Korea but also in foreign countries, and their excellence has been recognized internationally. They have performed in European concert stages, such as the Bacau Contemporary Music Festival in Romania in 2003, the Darmstadt International Contemporary Music Festival, the Warsaw Autumn Festival, the Arko Art Fair in Spain, the Venice Biennale, and the KlaraFestival in Belgium. Their reach has also expanded to other parts of Asia; they have been invited by the Asian Composers' League to perform in Bangkok, and also participated in the Beijing Contemporary Music Festival, the tour of Japan for the commemoration of Isang Yun's 90th Birthday, the Musikarama Festival in Hong Kong, and the Alexandria Contemporary Music Biennale in Egypt. 

In 2011, it cooperated with the Hong Kong Arts Festival, the most gigantic and the longest-serving music festival in Asia, to co-produce a musical play called Tree Rhapsody, and held a world premiere of that work in Hong Kong. In October 2011, it successfully completed concerts in Geneva, Athens, and Vatican. It was also invited to perform in Singapore and Austria in 2012. After the successful collaborations with GRAME in Lyon, 2013, and IRCAM in 2014, it was invited by Sinfonieorchester Basel in March 2015 and performed other wonderful concerts in Bratislava and Paris in November of 2015. Additionally, it was invited to perform at the Festival Presence in Paris, France, in 2023, and in April 2024, it successfully held a performance at the Weiwuying Festival in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, upon invitation. 

Ensemble TIMF will continue to expand its realm of performances. With its freshly creative project planning and its wide range of repertoires from the classical to contemporary periods, it will continue to advance as one of the leading ensembles for the future of Korean music.