National Academic Folk Choir of the Republic of Belarus named after G.I. Tsitovich is one of the leading bands in Belarus with a 70-year history.

The State Folk Choir of the BSSR was created in 1952 (from 1959 to 1963 it was called the State Folk Song and Dance Ensemble of the BSSR). The founder of the choir is an outstanding figure of national musical culture Gennady Ivanovich Tsitovich - folklorist, ethnographer, People's Artist of the USSR, laureate of the State Prize of the BSSR. Already in the early stages of the formation of the collective, critics, spectators and listeners noted the high performing skills of the choir, the novelty and originality of its repertoire.

From 1975 to 2020, the artistic director and chief conductor of the ensemble was Mikhail Pavlovich Drinevsky - People's Artist of Belarus, laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus, professor. Mikhail Pavlovich continued to develop the traditions of the choir, which were initiated by Gennady Ivanovich Tsitovich.

Many prominent performers have grown up in the choir, among them are the honored artists of the BSSR Maria Adameyko, Anna Avdeenko, Valentina Morozova, Vladimir Kovalchuk, dancer-harmonist Vasily Voronovich, soloist of the dance group Emilia Surovitskaya, lead singer of the male folklore group Petr Radenya, honored artists of the Republic of Belarus Vladimir Budai, Maria Marshak, Nina Cherednichenko, Vasily Braim, Petr Glushchuk, Yuri Pavlishin, People's Artist of Belarus Valentina Krylovich and others.

There were small groups in the choir at different times. In 1957, while preparing for the All-Union and VI World Youth Festivals in Moscow, G. Tsitovich got the idea to create a vocal octet from among the choir artists. And ten years later, another wonderful group appeared - a female vocal quartet, which was given the affectionate name "Kupalinka". This quartet immediately received wide recognition from music lovers, and over time became an independent group (now the Kupalinka Folklore Group of the Belarusian State Philharmonic Society).

For many years of history, the National Academic Folk Choir of the Republic of Belarus named after G.I. Tsitovich has several thousand performances that took place in all regions of Belarus and abroad. On the world tour map of the group there are such countries as: Bulgaria, Hungary, Germany, Italy, Canada, China, Korea, Lithuania, Monaco, Poland, Russia, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey, Finland, France, Czech Republic, Yugoslavia.

The team of the National Academic Folk Choir of the Republic of Belarus named after G.I. Tsitovich took part in numerous international competitions and festivals, which won awards, diplomas and the love of thousands of spectators.

For success in the field of choral art, promotion of the Belarusian national culture, a high level of performing skills:

• in 1983, by order of the Ministry of Culture of the USSR dated January 18, 1983, No. 37, the collective was given the status of "academic";
• in 1987, by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the BSSR dated March 11, 1987, No. 88, the choir was named after G.I. Tsitovich;
• in 2002, by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated October 24, 2002, No. 1465, the collective was given the status of “national”.

In 2000, according to the order of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Belarus dated June 14, 2000 No. 186, the collective became a state institution, and in 2004, by the Decree of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus dated September 10, 2004 No. 1129, the National Academic Folk Choir of the Republic of Belarus named after G.I. Tsitovich was named state cultural institution of particular importance for the preservation, development, dissemination and popularization of the Belarusian national culture.