[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts music review of A Holiday Concert with Meriette Saglie at Athena Foundation for the Arts 2025 Holiday Season Finale Concert.
What a wonderful way to start the holiday season with the virtuosity of the internationally renowned pianist, Meriette Saglie. The concert was a complete delight and had me in the holiday spirit from beginning to end.
Meriette Saglie holds a Doctor of Music Arts from the USC Thornton School of music. She is also CEO/President of Los Angeles Classical Music Inc., a non-profit organisation dedicated to amplifying the careers of professional classical concert artists through immersive mission-driven programming. The importance of this is magnified to an incredible degree when you hear Saglie play.
The first half of the program consisted of works from Federico Momou, a Catalan-born composer, pianist Alberto Ginastera, an Argentine composer and arguably one of the most important 20th-century classical composers of the Americas, and Luis Saglie, composer, conductor, pianist and brother of Meriette Saglie. The talent runs deep in the Saglie family.
Once again, all these pieces were accompanied by perfectly matched works of fine art projected behind the pianist as the compositions were played. Most of these pieces were short compositions with personalities all their own. Saglie perfectly captured the sights and sounds of Mompou’s beloved Barcelona. Danza del Gaucho Matrero was an abstract piece that was played by Saglie with such abandonment that the energy of the room rose to such a height that everyone all at once seemed to take a breath at the end of the piece. The Five Short Scenes for Piano composed by Luis Saglie were among my favourites.
Saglie’s explanation and commentaries regarding the pieces were a welcome addition to her performances. For a moment I forgot I was at the Community Auditorium The Valley, thinking I was at a private recital. That is how engaging Saglie is.
The second half of the program was all about Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s selections from the Nutcracker Suite arranged by Saglie. A holiday favourite of mine was played with such clarity and nostalgia, that it invoked the Ghost of Christmas past for me. The Nutcraker Suite was one of the first albums I owned as a child and I wore out the LP after hundreds of plays. I knew this music so well and somehow Saglie made it new for me again.
I must say that if the Nutcracker Suite was the Ghost of my Christmas Past, and this Holiday Piano Concert performed by Meriette Saglie was my Ghost of Christmas present, then the Ghost of my Christmas Future is all about attending all of the Athena Foundation for the Arts Concert Series in 2026. Give yourself the gift of beautiful and inspiring music all year round. I know I will.
Don’t miss their 2026 opener Sords•Walz•Durkovic Trio – A Brahms Bonanza on Sunday, February 22, 2026.
Three virtuosi – Andrew Sords, violin, John Walz, cello, and Timothy Durkovic, piano -i unite for an unforgettable performance of showpieces and trios by Brahms.
https://athenafoundationarts.org/sords-walz-durkovic-trio-february-22-2026/