Holton won a choral exhibition at Clare College, Cambridge and studied music there.
She participated in the project of Ton Koopman and the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra & Choir to record Bach's complete vocal works.
She has also worked with the choir of St. Thomas Church, Leipzig, where Bach was cantor, and took part in their televised performance of the Mass in B minor marking the 250th anniversary of the composer's death,[2][9] as well as in an earlier broadcast of the St John Passion.
Among her work on later music are recordings of Mozart, Haydn and Schütz, a live performance of Dvořák's Stabat Mater, and performances and recordings of contemporary composers including John Adams, Steve Reich and new works by David Briggs, Howard Thomas, Matthew King, Brian Inglis and Guy Woolfenden.
In addition to performing, she has coached singers internationally, as well as having been head of vocal studies at St. Joseph's College, London.