It was born as the Popayán Chamber Orchestra, an initiative of the Religious Music Festival Corporation and the Popayán University Foundation, which offered its inaugural concert on December 16, 2016 under the baton of the maestra Cecilia Espinosa (titular director of the Symphonic Orchestra EAFIT).

Its mission contemplates turning it into a seedbed and indispensable space for the orchestral practice of young people from the south of the country.

His second residency took place with the opening concert of the 54th Religious Music Festival, under the baton of maestro Andrés Felipe Jaime, assistant conductor of the Bogotá Philharmonic Orchestra. His third performance took place with the world premiere of the “Cantata por la Paz”, performing under the baton of the renowned Colombian director Felipe Aguirre.

​In its fourth residency, in 2018, it was the group that accompanied the soloists in the gala concerts of the 55th Religious Music Festival under the direction of maestro Felipe Aguirre, at which time it adopted the name of Filarmonía Popayán, an orchestra with a classic format and that seeks to become in the medium term a stable grouping for the city. The highlight was the assembly of Mozart’s Requiem and Concerto 21 for piano and orchestra by the same composer.

In the same year, his fifth residency was held with a Christmas staging under the direction of Carlos René Ordoñez and the Estampas choir of Maestra Lucía Arciniegas.

In 2019 under the direction of maestro Felipe Aguirre, the orchestra held its sixth residency for the gala concerts of the 56 Festival of Religious Music of Popayán with two performances in honor of the composer Johannes Brahms, which included his Symphony No. 2, the great German Requiem and the concerto for violin and orchestra.

In 2020 and with the coronavirus crisis, Filarmonía Popayán held its seventh and eighth residencies for the virtual versions of FESPO 2020 and FestiJazz Popayán in the months of October and December respectively, under the direction of maestro Juan Romero.

In 2021 and trying to return to normality a bit, at Holy Week the orchestra met for the opening concert of the 58th Festival of Religious Music of Popayán with the assembly of “Caucanidad”, a project by Caucan composers under the direction of the conductor Salomé Gómez and that had a capacity of 18% at the Guillermo Valencia Theater, plus its transmission via streaming.