From 1983 to 1988 Buchholz studied singing with Rudi Ploß, musical composition with Günter Neubert and music education with Hans-Georg Mehlhorn at the University of Music and Theatre Leipzig. From 1988 to 1992 he was for composition with Ruth Zechlin at the Academy of Arts, Berlin. He also took composition courses with Rudolf Kelterborn, Witold Lutosławski and John Cage.
