In July 2023, Shira Samuels-Shragg entered her second season as Plano Symphony Orchestra’s assistant conductor, and began her new position as assistant conductor of the Spokane Symphony Orchestra. Recently, Shira guest conducted interdisciplinary concerts with the Spokane, Corpus Christi, and South Bend symphonies. She is passionate about sharing the wonders of music with young audiences and has led education concerts with the Plano and Spokane symphonies for over 23,000 students, served as cover conductor for Young People’s Concerts with the New York Philharmonic, and co-founded Plano Symphony’s Summer Youth Orchestra Camp. In May 2022, Shira graduated with her masters in conducting from The Juilliard School, and she holds a BA in Music from Swarthmore College.

Shira was honored to finish her studies at Swarthmore with a grant from the music department and the coveted Swarthmore College Oak and Ivy Award. She also enjoyed studying in workshops with such esteemed conductors as Miguel Harth-Bedoya, Octavio Mas-Arocas, Tong Chen, David Effron, and Gary Berkson, among others. During the summer of 2021, Shira was a fellow in the inaugural Conducting Academy at the National Orchestral Institute + Festival, where she studied with Marin Alsop and James Ross and was delighted to premier Just Dreams by Tyler Taylor.