When Shira Samuels-Shragg steps onto the conductor's podium, she is fulfilling a childhood dream.
"I loved music and I knew I wanted to do something with that," Samuels-Shragg said. "And I thought that looks really fun to be the person at the front of the orchestra, but you don't see a lot of women up there."
Samuels-Shragg is Plano Symphony Orchestra's first assistant conductor. She graduated in 2022 with a Master of Music in Orchestral Conducting from The Julliard School.
"I felt very lucky to be able to go straight from graduate school into a full-time job with a professional symphony," Samuels-Shragg said. "I think what it does in terms of any field where we're still searching for gender equity, is that little girls in the audience can see me come out on the stage and think, 'Oh, maybe I want to do that!"
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On Monday, Samuels-Shragg was leading the PSO's first summer camp for students. "It's been really rewarding," she said. "I hope they're inspired to listen harder, practice more, and come back next summer ready for even more challenging music."
Samuels-Shragg says representation matters; from the notes on the page to the person on the podium.
"I like to think I'm bringing a sense of warmth and collaboration every time I get on the podium," Samuels-Shragg said. "Each individual person gets up there and it affects the sound of the orchestra. It's like this sort of magical, intangible thing."
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Samuels-Shragg says she may be the one in front, the 'glue' that holds things together, but the symphony is a group effort.
"They all agree to show up together and create this thing that none of us can do by ourselves," Samuels-Shragg said. "I think it's a really beautiful representation of how society can be when we're all bringing our best when we're all showing up to listen and to collaborate and work without one another for everyone's benefit."
