About Shira
American conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg is dedicated to creating vibrant, welcoming orchestral experiences for musicians and audiences alike. Shira is Fellow Conductor for the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and Assistant Conductor for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Her subscription debut in Dallas was praised for bringing “shape, purpose, and fastidious detailing of dynamic contrasts and nuances” to the podium (Dallas Morning News).
In the 2026/27 season, Shira debuts with the London Philharmonic, Sinfonieorchester Basel, Haydn Orchestra, and Tulsa Symphony.
Shira was a semi-finalist in the 2026 Mahler Competition, and in 2025, she was awarded the prestigious Neeme Järvi Prize at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival. Other recent highlights include debuts with the North Carolina Symphony, Orquesta Sinfonica Nacional de Mexico, Chattanooga Symphony, and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, and her subscription debut with the Spokane Symphony, where she previously served as Assistant Conductor. In 2024, she was selected for Dallas Opera’s 2024 Hart Institute for Women Conductors. Shira has also guest conducted orchestras such as the Corpus Christi, Irving, and South Bend symphonies, and served as cover conductor for the St. Louis Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, and New York Philharmonic.
Shira is passionate about sharing the wonders of music with young audiences and has led education concerts, sensory-friendly events and family-oriented programmes for more than 90,000 students and their families. Additionally, she is co-founder and former Music Director of the Plano Symphony’s Summer Youth Orchestra Camp and served as Assistant Conductor of National Youth Orchestra USA in 2022, returning as Associate Conductor in 2024.
Shira graduated with a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from The Juilliard School, where she studied with David Robertson. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Music and a minor in German from Swarthmore College, where she studied conducting with Andrew Hauze and piano with Marcantonio Barone.