The symphony orchestra of the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus is the earliest ensemble of the country. The historical basis for its formation was established in the early twentieth century and closely connected with the traditions of the Belarusian national culture.
In 1933 the State Opera and Ballet Theatre was opened with the premiere of Carmen. The classical repertoire became the basis for the professional development of the orchestra. It was led by famous conductors from year to year: Ilya Gitgarts, Natan Grubin, Onisim Bron, Vladimir Piradov, Lev Liubimov, Gaziz Dugashev, Kirill Tikhonov, Yaroslav Voshchak, Tatiana Kolomiytseva, Gennady Provatorov, Alexander Anisimov.
The present-day performing style of the orchestra is formed by the principal conductor,  Honoured Artist of Ukraine Viktor Ploskina and conductors of the theatre Andrei Galanov, Vyacheslav Volich, Andrei Ivanou, Honoured Art Worker of the Republic of Belarus Nikolai Koliadko, Ivan Kostyakhin.
Many great masters such as Vladimir Spivakov, Robert Satanowski, Jonas Aleksa, Nicola Giuliani, Fuat Mansurov, Yevgeny Kolobov, Valery Gergiev, Dmitry Khokhlov, Eraldo Salmieri, Reinhard Seehafer, Mariano Rivas, Yuri Kochnev, Ralf Weikert, Alexandru Samoilă, Gintaras Rinkevičius, Yalchin Adigozalov, Felix Korobov, Eyyub Guliyev, Amos Talmon, Manfred Mayrhofer, Pavel Sorokin and others worked with our orchestra.
Such outstanding singers of the 20th and 21st centuries as Ivan Kozlovsky, Sergei Lemeshev, Virgilijus Noreika, Yevgeny Nesterenko, Bela Rudenko, Lyudmila Shemchuk, Galina Vishnevskaya, Elena Obraztsova, Irina Arkhipova, Maria Bieșu, Vladimir Atlantov, Vladislav Piavko, Maria Guleghina, Paata Burchuladze and many others commended the work of the orchestra.
The symphony orchestra of the theatre comprises more than 150 talented musicians, who educated in the Belarusian State Academy of Music and leading conservatories of the countries of the former USSR.
The orchestra's repertoire is extremely diverse: operas, ballets, works of cantata-oratorio genre (Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi, Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Carmina Burana by Carl Orff, Spring by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Oedipus rex by Igor Stravinsky, etc.), symphonic music (symphonies by Hector Berlioz, Johannes Brahms, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Gustav Mahler, Sergei Rachmaninoff, overtures and symphonic poems by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, etc.), instrumental concerts (Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Rachmaninoff). The repertoire of the orchestra is gradually expanding, covering musical and style areas from the baroque music to modern academic and popular music.
The orchestra performed in theatres and concert halls of Brazil, Great Britain, Hungary, Germany, Hong Kong, Greece, Israel, Spain, Kuwait, Lithuania, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Thailand, Ukraine and Estonia.
The orchestra started touring abroad with symphonic music programmes since February 1992.For the first time it was in Spain, where our orchestra was warmly welcomed by the audience of Madrid, A Coruña and Barcelona. From 1998 to 2002 the orchestra took part in "Classic Open-air" festivals in Solothurn (Switzerland). Famous foreign singers such as Giuseppe Giacomini, Gwyneth Jones, Christian Johansson, Francisco Araiza, Eduardo Tumadzhian, Antonio Salvadori, Salvatore Fisichella, Montserrat Caballe, Naomi Nadelman and many others performed with our orchestra. Foreign press has repeatedly noted the performing skills of the orchestra musicians and the ensemble as a whole.
In 2016-2017 the symphony orchestra of the National Academic Bolshoi Opera and Ballet Theatre of the Republic of Belarus has toured in Germany, Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland.
The symphony orchestra is a regular participant of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus large-scale projects, including the Minsk International Christmas Opera Forum, festival of opera and ballet art “Evenings of the Bolshoi Theatre at the Radziwill Castle”, Big New Year’s Ball at the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus, as well as gala concerts with the participation of chorus and opera soloists, concert programmes “Strauss invites”, etc. The high professionalism of the orchestra musicians and conductors is the basis of the outstanding creative achievements of the ensemble.

The chorus of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus is one of the largest and most significant professional choral ensembles and the only opera chorus in the country. The work of such an ensemble invariably involves stage performance, demanding exceptional versatile vocal and artistic talent from its members. The chorus serves as the quintessential «multi-part» protagonist in operatic productions and is one of the theatre’s most populous ensembles.

Throughout its history, the chorus has been led by the country's most esteemed choral conductors. In the 1940s, Iosif Abramis, a pioneer of the Belarusian choral conducting school, embarked on his career as a chorus master at the theatre. Georgy Petrov served as principal chorus master in this period, leading the chorus for several years after the opening of the theatre, as well as during the challenging and crucial post-war years, and remaining with the theatre until his passing. During the tumultuous years of war, between 1939 and 1945, the position of principal chorus master was held by Aron Belsky

The People’s Artist of Belarus Aleksey Kogadeev made a tremendous contribution to the development of choral art, directing the chorus of the Bolshoi Theatre of Belarus for 33 years. His name will always be associated with some of the most remarkable productions in the history of the theatre, including Sergey Taneyev’s Oresteia, Modest Mussorgsky’s Khovanshchina and Boris Godunov, The Golden Cockerel by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Richard Wagner’s Lohengrin, and Giordano Bruno by Sergey Kortes. The long-standing high reputation of the ensemble is largely due to Kogadeev’s leadership and dedication.

In 1993, Aleksey Kogadeev was succeeded by his student, who assumed the lofty responsibility of directing the chorus. For over 30 years, Nina Lomanovich, People’s Artist of Belarus, laureate of the State Prize of the Republic of Belarus, and holder of the Order of Francysk Skaryna, has served as the theatre’s principal chorus master. It is under the direction of Nina Lomanovich that over the decades the chorus has not only maintained but also significantly enhanced the high professional level achieved by its predecessors.

The marvelous performance of the chorus became one of the constituents of the success of the opera company’s tours in Brazil, Germany, Israel, Spain, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland (the foreign press hailed the chorus as one of the highlights of the festival in their reviews of the performance of the Belarusian opera company at the Classic Openair Festival in Solothurn), Thailand, and a key to the sincere love of the Belarusian audience.

Today the chorus consists of over 70 highly professional artists. Its considerable part comprises young talents, alumni of the vocal division of the Belarusian State Academy of Music.

A brilliant performance of Requiem by Giuseppe Verdi, Requiem by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ein deutsches Requiem by Johannes Brahms, so-called choral operas, such as The Maid of Orleans by Pyotr Tchaikobsky, Alexander Borodin’s Prince Igor, Giuseppe Verdi’s Nabucco, Giacomo Puccini’s Turandot, Modest Mussorgsky’s Boris Godunov and Khovanshchina, brought about the takeoff of the chorus artists. Other prominent works of the chorus include Aida, Un ballo in maschera, Il trovatore by Giuseppe Verdi, Carmen by Georges Bizet, The Queen of Spades by Pyotr Tchaikovsky. The repertoire of the chorus also includes cantatas and oratorios, namely Sergey Taneyev's John of Damascus, Spring by Sergei Rachmaninoff, Songs of Kursk by Georgy Sviridov, Oedipus rex by Igor Stravinsky, etc. Its concert programmes comprise choruses a cappella (sacred music, music of Russian and Soviet composers).