Juuli Holma
Juuli Holma began playing the cello at the age of six in her hometown of Jyväskylä. At the age of fifteen, she was accepted into the youth department of the Sibelius Academy, where she not only had the opportunity to study under some of Finland's finest teachers but also to play with talented youths from all over Finland. Chamber music quickly became Holma's greatest passion, a pursuit she was able to realize in several permanent ensembles, not only in Finland but also in international masterclasses and the European Chamber Music Academy, with instructors from the world's leading chamber ensembles such as the Juilliard, Chilingirian, Fine Arts, and Alban Berg Quartets.
Holma supplemented her instrumental studies at the Chicago College of Performing Arts under the guidance of American cellist Wendy Warner, as well as at numerous international masterclasses with teachers including Frans Helmersson, Torleif Thedeén, Gary Hoffman, and Bernard Greenhouse. In the spring of 2022, Holma focused on early music studies in Verona, and a year later, she graduated as a Baroque cellist from the Novia University of Applied Sciences in Pietarsaari. She further enriched her Baroque cello studies at the Vannes Early Music Institute under professors Bruno Cocset and Viola de Hoog.
After graduating with a Master of Music degree from the Sibelius Academy in 2012, Holma spent a year as a musician in Guimarães, Portugal, the European Capital of Culture, performing throughout the country. Through a series of fortunate events, Holma became the lead cellist of the Lapland Chamber Orchestra in 2013, a position she still holds. Additionally, as an orchestral musician, Holma has been featured in the cello sections of the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra, the Helsinki City Orchestra, and the Ostrobothnian Chamber Orchestra, as the principal cellist of the Tampere Philharmonic and Jyväskylä Sinfonia, and with the Ludwigsburg Festival Orchestra in Germany and the Verbier Chamber Orchestra in Switzerland.
After nearly a decade of performing duo and piano trio repertoire with her husband, violinist Juhana Inkinen, the couple decided to establish the Kaamos Quartet in their current home city of Rovaniemi in January 2014. The quartet debuted in London shortly after its formation and established its own chamber concert series at the Rovaniemi local heritage museum. In 2017, Holma and Inkinen combined their two passions, music and food, by founding the music and gastronomy festival Soinillinen in Soini, Southern Ostrobothnia.
Recent performances include a duo with violinist Ilya Gringolts by Jörg Widmann, a Valentine's Day Baroque recital with harpsichordist Petteri Pitko, lutenist Eero Palviainen, cellist Heidi Peltoniemi, and singer Paulus Sipilä, a solo part in Antonio Caldara's cello concerto at the Vaasa Baroque Festival, and the sextet version of Arnold Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht conducted by Liza Ferschtman. In the spring season of 2024, Holma participated in the Finnish premieres of Szymon Laks' piano quintet and Jerzy Fitelberg's Nachtmusik "Fisches Nachtgesang" for clarinet, cello, and celesta.
Holma is also a sought-after pedagogue, teaching cello and chamber music both at the Lapland Music Institute and privately across Finland. Her instrument is a Giovanni Grancino cello from 1685.
