Vladimir Tarasov was born in Archangelsk, Russia.

Since 1968 he has lived and worked in Vilnius, Lithuania. For many years  Tarasov performed with the Lithuanian Symphonic Orchestra and other symphonic, chamber, and jazz orchestras in Lithuania, Europe and the USA.

From 1971 to 1986, Tarasov was a member of the well-known contemporary jazz music trio – GTC (Viatcheslav Ganelin, Vladimir Tarasov, Vladimir Chekasin).  With the Trio and many other artists and orchestras he has recorderd more than 100 records and CDs including numerous solo performances.

V. Tarasov also writes music for orchestras, film, and theatre: Staatstheater, Stuttgart – 1995, Majestic Theater at The Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York – 1995; Josef Nadj Centre Choreographique National Orleans, Orleans – 1998, 2004; Theatre Vidy-Lausanne, Meierhold Centre, Moskow – 2003; Arte France, Paris - 2006, Eudeka Media, Poland; Yleisradio, Finland – 2009, etc.

Since 1991 he has been working in the visual arts, both solo, and collaborating with artists such as Ilya Kabakov, Sarah Flohr, and others.  He has participated in many one-person and group exhibitions: Kunsthalle, Düsseldorf – 1991; La Biennale de Venezia, Venice – 1993; Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago – 1993; Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris – 1995; Leopold Hoesch Museum, Düren – 1998; Galeries Nationales du Grand Palais, Paris – 2000; Contemporary Art Center – DOM, Moscow – 2002; State Tretyakov Gallery,Moskow, The State Hermitage Museum, St.Petersburg – 2004; The State Russian Museum St.Petersburg, Ludwig Museum in The Russian Museum – 2003, 2005; National Centre for Contemporary Arts (NCCA), Moscow - 2006, 2008. 2010; Copper Smithy, Fiskars, Finland - 2006; 2nd and 3rd Biennale of Contemporary Art, Moscow - 2007, 2009; El Pabellon de las Artes, EXPO-2008, Zaragoza; Bass Museum of Art, Miami Beach - 2008, RAM radioartemobile, Roma – 2011, Museum Sztuki in Lodz; KUMU Art Museum, Tallinn – 2016, Akademie der Künste, Berlin  ­–  2018, Vytautas Kasiulis Art Museum, Vilnius; Dovzhenko Center, Kyiv – 2020, etc.   

In 1999 Tarasov directed the play “Drink Up” (adapted from the poem by Venedikt Erofejev) at the Russian Drama Theatre of Lithuania.  On the same stage in 2002, Tarasov directed the opera “The Return of Dionysos” by Edwin Geist (1902 – 1942).

He has taught and given lectures at the Podewill Center in Berlin, the Music Academy in Bremen, and the Academy of Art, Orleans (France); the Kunst Akademie Düsseldorf; the Art Academy, Vilnius; the Art Department at California State University, Sacramento; the Department of Music at the Universtiy of the Pacific, Stockton, California; and at the Institute for Studio Studies in conjunction with the Yale University Summer Session in Pont Aven, France.

In 1993 – 1994, he received a grant from the Akademie Schloss Solitude, Stuttgart (Germany); and in 1998 from the  Civitella Ranieri Center in Italy. He is the author of the book, “Trio,” published by “Baltos Lankos” publishing house (Vilnius, 1998), “NLO” publishing house (Moscow, 2004), Hosei University (Japan 2016) , “Tam – Tam” published by “NLO” publishing house (Moscow, 2009), and “The Drummer Diaries” published by “Sofoklis” (Vilnius, 2020).

In 2009, Vladimir Tarasov received the Triumph Prize in Moscow: Russia's independent prize for the highest achievements in literature and art. He was awarded Lithuania’s National Culture and Arts Prize in 2016.

Mr. Tarasov has performed with such musicians and artists as Andrew Cyrille, the Rova Saxophone Quartet, Anthony Braxton, Lauren Newton, and Josef Nadj.