Winner of ’Polstjärnepriset’ in Gothenburg in 2017 and The Danish Strings Competition 2018, Alva Holm is a violinist with a strong and distinctive sound and a remarkable mature and honest musicality that draws the listener’s attention from the first stroke of her bow. Born in 2000, she is already on the watch list of critics, orchestras and music festivals throughout the Nordic region and beyond.
Biography
Alva made her concerto debut with the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra at the age of 16, winning ’Polstjärnepriset’ with her performance of Carl Nielsen’s testing Violin Concerto. She has twice been victorious at the Jacob Gade Violin Competition and won both First Prize and the Aarhus Symphony Orchestra’s special prize at the Danish Strings Competition.
Following her competition victories, Alva was approached by a raft of orchestras, promoters and festivals and has appeared regularly as a concerto soloist and chamber musician since; in the latter capacity, she continues to perform in a duo with her brother, pianist Elias Holm. Alva has been a soloist with orchestras throughout Scandinavia including the Aarhus Symphony and Bergen Philharmonic Orchestras. In autumn 2020 she’s invited back with Aarhus Symphony Orchestra to perform Mendelssohn Violin Concerto with conductor Marc Soustrot.
In 2022, she won the prestigious Solistpriset in Sweden, which has led to many concerts with different orchestras in Sweden.
Alva began her musical education at the Royal Danish Academy of Music in Copenhagen where she studied with the Ukrainian violinist Alexandre Zapolski, who gave her a particular appreciation of the Slavic violin tradition with its focus on quality of tone and colour combined with its deep communicative and expressive impulse. She continued her studies with Peter Herresthal and Asbjørn Nørgaard, and is now a student of Professor Stephan Picard at Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin.
She has participated in master-classes with violinists including Henning Kraggerud, Nicola Benedetti, Nikolaj Szeps-Znaider, Pinchas Zukerman and Vilde Frang.
Alva has been the recipient of prestigious scholarships from the Augustinus Foundation, Sonning Foundation, Jacob Gades Legacy and the Carl and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen Legacy.
Alva Holm plays an Antonius Stradivarius “Maurer Van Veen, Elphinstone” anno 1705, generously on loan from the Anders Sveaas’ Charitable Foundation.
She is represented by Nordic Artists Management.