Vitali Protasov was born in Sevastopol (Crimea). After leaving the Tchaikovsky Music School in Simferopol, he entered the Tchaikovsky National Music Academy of Ukraine in Kyiv. In 1998, he graduated from the faculty of Opera and Symphony Conducting, the class of Prof. Roman Kofman. While studying, he started to work as the director and assistant chief conductor of the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine. In 1998, Vitali Protasov participated in the creation of ‘Rikoshet’ modern music ensemble on the basis of the National Union of Composers of Ukraine in Kyiv, with which he worked until 2001.
Vitali Protasov conducted the symphony orchestras of Lviv, Odesa, Luhansk and Dnipro Philharmonics, as well as the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, the Chamber Orchestra of the Rivne Philharmonic, the Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, the orchestras of Pomeranian and Szczecin Philharmonics, the Beethoven Symphony Orchestra (Germany). Being on tour with the Academic Symphony Orchestra of National Philharmonic of Ukraine and Kyiv Chamber Orchestra, he conducted the orchestras in Poland, Germany, France, China and Japan. Vitali Protasov has performed in partnership with such soloist as: Liana Isakadze (violin), Valeriy Sokolov (violin), Andrei Belov (violin), Vadim Brodsky (violin), Dominique de Williencourt (cello), Serhiy Terentyev (piano), Ihor Chetuiev (piano), Eugene Izotov (oboe) etc.
In 2006, the conductor, together with O.Shchetynsky, set up the ‘Kyiv-Sinfonietta’ ensemble of modern music. He is also a participant of Ukrainian and international festivals of modern music such as “Kyiv Music Fest”, “European Musical Space”, “GogolFest” (Kyiv), “Contrasts” (Lviv), and “Two days and Two Nights” (Odesa).