Olga Ortenberg Rakitchenkov is a Russian and American harpist. She was born in Moscow on October 15, 1949, and is the niece of violinist and conductor Adolf Brook. Her mother, musicologist Anna Ortenberg-Brook, studied with Olga Gnessina; her father was Naum Ortenberg.
Ortenberg graduated from the Gnessin School in 1968, where she studied with Mark Rubin, and from the Moscow Conservatory in 1973, where she studied with Vera Dulova. She took part in International Harp Week in the Netherlands in 1971 and a harpists’ festival in Gargilesse in 1973. In 1974, she won the Geneva International Music Competition. From 1973 to 1987, she played harp in the Bolshoi Theatre Orchestra. She also wrote notes for Melodiya record releases, including a 1980 solo album by Dulova.
After moving to the United States in 1987, Ortenberg became principal harpist of the San Francisco Opera Orchestra in 1989. Critics have singled out her solo parts. She also performs with her husband, violist Sergei Rakitchenkov, and her cousin, pianist Arkady Serper, in the Melodiya chamber ensemble.
Dmitri Smirnov wrote several works for Ortenberg and Rakitchenkov: Farewell Song for viola and harp (1982), premiered by them in Moscow on October 4 of that year; Shadows in Light (1999); and a Chaconne for violin, viola, and harp (2000).