The article is devoted to the history of the choral music development in Azerbaijan and to highlighting the ways of choirmaster art formation. The development of choral art in Azerbaijan began, firstly, with the formation of the composer creative activity. The introduction of classical choral samples with the emergence of the first opera and the formation of an ensemble for performing it are considered to be the first step in this area. Later, the emergence of professional choral collectives, the development of the opera genre, as well as the activity of music education institutions included a new stage of development. Therefore, the formation of choral music genres allowed the development of the art of conducting, especially the areas such as an opera choirmaster who leads a choir collective, a chapel choirmaster. The purpose of the research is to highlight the formation of choral conducting in Azerbaijan, to study the ways of high-level development of choirmaster art and to explore the creative path of professional opera choirmasters. The research methodology is based on historical and theoretical principles, with the help of which the position of choral art in the musical culture of Azerbaijan, the history of the formation of choral art is considered. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study was the existing works of Russian and Azerbaijani musicologists in this field. The scientific novelty of the research is connected with the fact that for the first time in Azerbaijan the ways of development of choir art are comprehensively covered. Conclusions. The involvement of Azerbaijani choral art in the research and the study of the issue mainly in terms of the conducting and choirmaster art formation have shown that the development of this art was primarily connected with composer creativity. Since the emergence of classical samples of choral music is associated with the opera genre, the art of conducting and choirmaster has entered its stage of formation, in parallel. The professional development of choirmaster art took place in parallel and mutually with the art of conducting and it was associated with the high-level organization of music education in the country. Consequently, such professional choirmasters as L. V. Frolova, A. A. Yurlov, N. Malikov, L. Atakishiyeva, E. B. Novruzov, B. Vakilova, S. Agayeva, N. Mardanov, N. Nabiyev, Z. Ismayilova, Y. Adigozalov, G. Imanova and L. Mammadova have been trained in Azerbaijan. Besides, areas such as a chapel and opera choirmaster have also developed within choirmaster art.