In 1974, her father and mother were forced to leave Russia with their two daughters for publicly defending and supporting the dissident writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn.

Elena accompanied her father in recitals in New York, Boston, Washington, London, Paris, Frankfurt, Los Angeles, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Jerusalem, and Rio de Janeiro.

She also joined the board of directors of the Rostropovich-Vishnevskaya Foundation (RVF), based in Washington, DC, a charitable organization dedicated to modernizing healthcare for children throughout the world.

Since its founding in 1991, RVF has designed and financed sustainable immunization and other children’s public health programs for over 20 million individuals in many countries, including Russia, Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan.

[9] On April 23, 2013, "Al Sununu" choirs in Bethlehem, Gaza City, Amman, Damascus and Beirut performed simultaneously via satellite a live concert of their traditional music.

[10][11][12][13][14] France 2011: Creation of Music Room for hearing-impaired children and adolescents at Institut National des Jeunes Sourds in Paris.