The beginning of the choir goes back to 1929 when Grigorij Szirma created the first in 20th century professional choir in western Belarus formed with the singers from the Vilnius Choir. In 1950 choir became official State Choir of Belarus and in 1952 moved to Minsk, where five years later was transformed into national Republic's Choir Band.

Since 1978 the choir holds the name of its founder Grigorij Szirma. The singers present the highest level of musical culture, emotionalism, richness of expression, purity of intonation, clarity and sincerity of the performance.

It is the oldest Belarusian choir which fully deserves critics' and listeners' recognition. As the artistic director of the Philharmonic in Saint Petersburg W.S Fomin put it: "The softness and beauty of the voices, purity of the intonation and spiritual attitude to the music matters are the dominant features of every concert performed by them".

The unusual popularity of the choir is proved by the topography of the concert venues - Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, Lithuania, Austria, The Netherlands, Denmark, France, Belgium, Luxemburg. The choir also performed during the cultural activities of the Olympic games in Barcelona in 1992. In 1994 it was awarded grand prix of the International Festival of Orthodox Church Music in Hajnowka.

At its' many concerts the Choir was conducted by excellent conductors from Moscow, Sanct Petersburg, Kharkiv, Volgograd, Donieck, Kijev, Vilnius, Irkuck, Görlitz, Zielona Góra, Cottbus. The repertory of the choir is vast and divers.

At its' many concerts the Choir was conducted by excellent conductors from Moscow, Sanct Petersburg, Kharkiv, Volgograd, Donieck, Kijev, Vilnius, Irkuck, Görlitz, Zielona Góra, Cottbus. The special place in the choir's repertory is devoted to the church music ranging from the ancient Belarusian pieces to the classic Russian.

The director of the choir since 1987 is Ludmila Efimova from the Saint Petersburg school of music.