Born in Amsterdam, Peter Holtslag studied recorder at the Conservatorium of his native town, graduating ‚cum laude‘ in 1980, his leading sources of inspiration being Frans Brüggen and Kees Boeke. From then onwards he has toured worldwide as a recorder and transverse flute player.

A distinguished soloist and chamber musician, playing worldwide, he shared the concert platform with musicians such as Gustav Leonhardt, William Christie, Roy Goodman and ensembles such as The English Concert, The Orchestra of the 18th Century, Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, La Fontegara Amsterdam, Trio Noname and recorded for radiostations all over the globe (ABC Sydney, National Radio USA, WDR Köln, NOS Holland, New Zealand Radio, BBC London etc). He appeared at major festivals in most of the cultural capitals of Europe.

His more than 25 CD-recordings on most major labels (such as Hyperion, DGG/Archiv, Chandos, etc) have won international acclaim.

From 1984 to 1988 he taught at the Guildhall School of Music in London and in 1988 was appointed professor to both the Royal Academy of Music London and the Hochschule für Musik und Theater Hamburg.

He was a guest lecturer at the City University London and holds numerous international master classes all over the globe (Amsterdam, Berlin, Budapest, Cracow, Hong Kong, Lisbon, Prague, St.Petersburg, Helsinki institutions, as well as summer courses). Peter Holtslag teaches at international summer courses in Lisbon, Trondheim and Czech Republic and is one of the founding members of the Academia de Musica Antiga de Lisboa—an institution holding international summerschools in Portugal.

Peter Holtslag is an authority on the music of the 16th to 18th centuries and, unlike many other performers striving for „authentic“ renderings, he prefers to see early music in the light of its rhetorical traditions rather than let it follow a stolid motoric course. His activities also concentrate on the performance of contemporary recorder music.