This concert is the North Carolina Symphony debut for Shira Samuels-Shragg. 

American conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg was recently announced as a 2026/27 fellow conductor for the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Currently the assistant conductor for the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, her subscription debut was praised for bringing “shape, purpose, and fastidious detailing of dynamic contrasts and nuances” to the podium (Dallas Morning News). In 2025, she was awarded the prestigious Neeme Järvi Prize at the Gstaad Menuhin Festival, an honor that comes with an invitation to conduct the Sinfonieorchester Basel.

More recent highlights include debuts with the Chattanooga Symphony and the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, as well as her subscription debut with the Spokane Symphony. Previously, Samuels-Shragg served as the assistant conductor for the Spokane Symphony and Plano Symphony Orchestra. She was delighted to be one of four conductors selected for The Dallas Opera’s 2024 Hart Institute for Women Conductors, and to be chosen as a mentee with the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship. She has led education concerts, sensory-friendly events, and family-oriented programs for over 90,000 students and their families. Additionally, she is the co-founder and former music director of the Plano Symphony’s Summer Youth Orchestra Camp, and served as the assistant conductor for National Youth Orchestra USA 2022, where she returned as associate conductor in 2024.

In May of 2022, Samuels-Shragg graduated with her master's degree in orchestral conducting from The Juilliard School, where she studied with Maestro David Robertson. She holds a bachelor's degree in music and a minor in German from Swarthmore College, where she studied conducting with Andrew Hauze and piano with Marcantonio Barone.