She has been described by opera historian Maud Hurum as one of the first women in the country to gain international recognition for her singing, alongside Karen Holmsen and Gina Oselio.

[2] Such was her interest in music that shortly after her confirmation, she began to study in Oslo (then known as Christiania) under the organist Rudolph Magnus Forwald and took piano lessons under Halfdan Kjerulf.

[3] Under the guidance and accompaniment of the pianist Erika Nissen, Holmboe first appeared at a concert in Oslo where she sang an aria from Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, receiving enthusiastic acclaim from the audience.

Her most successful roles were[3] Margaretha in Gounod's Faust,[1] Maddalena in Verdi's Rigoletto, and in Filippo Marchetti's Ruy Blas.

[1] In August 1880, she married the Swedish major Rolf Oscar Alexander Schenström, after which she became a music teacher mainly in Sweden and Norway but also in London.