She received her initial musical education at City Music School No. 2 named after I. Dunaevsky, studying harp in the class of V. B. Dobrokhotova (she completed her studies under B. V. Dobrokhotov).
In 1970 she graduated with honours from the Vocal Department of the Gnesin State Music College (class of P. L. Tronina). In 1976 she graduated from the Vocal Faculty of the Gnesin State Musical and Pedagogical Institute (now the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music, class of V. N. Levko).
During her studies at the Institute she also worked with the Moscow Regional Philharmonic. In 1987 she completed an assistant traineeship at the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music under V. N. Levko.
From 1976 she sang with the Moscow Chamber Choir under V. Minin, and since 1984 she has been a soloist with Roskoncert.
She has toured abroad on numerous occasions with the Chamber Choir (USA, Canada, France, Spain, Italy, Mexico, Japan, and others), as well as giving solo recitals in Germany (Hamburg).
In recent years, as a member of the choir, she has taken part in productions of Anton Rubinstein’s «The Demon», Bohuslav Martinů’s «The Greek Passion», and Rimsky‑Korsakov’s «The Golden Cockerel» conducted by V. I. Fedoseev at the Bregenz Festival and in Zurich (Switzerland).
She has worked with composers such as G. Sviridov, M. Kuuss, M. Tabachnikov, A. Golovin, and others, and has made recordings for radio and television.
Since 1984 E. B. Obolenskaya has taught in the Solo Singing Department of the Gnesin Russian Academy of Music.
Her students include People’s and Honoured Artists of Russia, laureates of international competitions, and soloists of opera theatres and philharmonic societies, among them E. Kononenko, R. Galimova, N. Yershova, T. Pechinkova, M. Panfilova, G. Sadekova, N. Smirnova, M. Nikonova, A. khripkova, N. Krasavina (Sivtsevich), and others.
She is the author of the article «On the Teaching Mastery of Valentina Levko» in Perspektivy razvitiya vokalnogo obrazovaniya, Moscow, 2018, pp. 213–216.
In 1972 E. B. Obolenskaya became a laureate of the Moscow Youth Song Festival.
