Vladimir Balshin was born in 1973 in Moscow. After graduating from the Moscow Conservatory he continued his postgraduate studies there in the class of Prof. Natalia Shakhovskaya. As a member of the Russo Quartet he received tuition from Mikhail Kopelman and Valentin Berlinsky, both long-standing members of the Borodin Quartet. He became a laureate of international competitions in Italy (Caltanissetta, 1990, 1st Prize) and the UK (London String Quartet Competition, 1991, 3rd Prize).

In 1994 was awarded a special prize by Mstislav Rostropovich at the International Cello Competition in Paris. He was a finalist of the XI Tchaikovsky Competition (Moscow, 1998) and laureate of the Antonio Janigro International Cello Competition (Croatia, 2000). Between 1993 and 1998 he was a member of Moscow Soloists, the chamber orchestra led by Yuri Bashmet. Since 1998 he has been a member of the Brahms Trio and he teaches at the Moscow State Conservatory. He joined the Borodin Quartet in 2007.