[2] Holland moved to Los Angeles, where he studied with May Hamaker Henley and Georges Le Pyre, and with Clyde Burrows in New York.

[3] In the following years he had roles in Marc Connelly's drama The Green Pastures (1936, uncredited, possibly as soloist in the Hall Johnson Choir) and in the film Hullabaloo (1940).

[4] As Holland's opportunities to succeed as an African American in the field of classical music were limited,[2][4] he moved to Europe in 1949 and—after a short stay in Sweden—settled in Paris.

He made his debut as Monostatos in Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Palais Garnier in 1954 and appeared in the role of Nadir in Bizet's Les pêcheurs de perles at the Salle Favart in 1955.

Massenet's aria "O Souverain" (from Le Cid), which he performed at a concert in California in 1977, inspired Laurie Anderson to write her song "O Superman".