In February, Shira Samuels-Shragg won the position of assistant conductor with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, where she will begin her tenure in the fall of 2024. Shira is currently the assistant conductor for the Spokane (WA) Symphony, and is finishing her second season as assistant conductor with the Plano (TX) Symphony. Recent engagements include guest conducting concerts with the Spokane, Corpus Christi, and South Bend symphonies. Shira is passionate about sharing the wonders of music with young audiences and has led education concerts for over 50,000 students. Shira has served as cover conductor for the St. Louis Symphony and for Young People’s Concerts with the New York Philharmonic, and she co-founded Plano Symphony’s Summer Youth Orchestra Camp. A fierce advocate for gender equity in the orchestral world, Shira was delighted to be one of four conductors selected for The Dallas Opera’s 2024 Hart Institute for Women Conductors, and she is a mentee with the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship. In May 2022, Shira graduated with her Masters in Orchestral Conducting from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Maestro David Robertson. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music from Swarthmore College, where she studied conducting with Andrew Hauze and piano with Marcantonio Barone.