WRR weekend host Brooke Scholl sits down with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's assistant conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg to unpack her remarkable, last-minute debut leading the Dallas Symphony Orchestra after Music Director Fabio Luisi had to pull out due to a family emergency. With only days to prepare, Shira stepped onto the Meyerson podium to conduct a vivid program spanning Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, and not one but two world premieres: Jonathan Cziner’s powerful new Clarinet Concerto, written for DSO principal clarinetist Gregory Raden, and Jasmine Guo’s evocative The Sound of Where I Came From. We’ll hear how she navigated the intensity, the inspiration, and the whirlwind of bringing complex new music to life—while earning an ovation for her clarity, confidence, and artistry on a night that became newsworthy for all the right reasons.
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WRR weekend host Brooke Scholl sits down with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's assistant conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg to unpack her remarkable, last-minute debut leading the Dallas Symphony Orchestra after Music Director Fabio Luisi had to pull out due to a family emergency. With only days to prepare, Shira stepped onto the Meyerson podium to conduct a vivid program spanning Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, and not one but two world premieres: Jonathan Cziner’s powerful new Clarinet Concerto, written for DSO principal clarinetist Gregory Raden, and Jasmine Guo’s evocative The Sound of Where I Came From. We’ll hear how she navigated the intensity, the inspiration, and the whirlwind of bringing complex new music to life—while earning an ovation for her clarity, confidence, and artistry on a night that became newsworthy for all the right reasons.
WRR101 Focus on the Arts: Why Basically Beethoven is a summer staple in DFW
WRR 101.1 Focus on the Arts
4 minutes 3 seconds
4 months ago
WRR101 Focus on the Arts: Why Basically Beethoven is a summer staple in DFW
“When we’re talking about local musicians, we’re talking about high level local musicians,” says Morgan Vaughan, Executive Director of Basically Beethoven, which is opening its annual summer festival of free chamber music performances in Dallas on Sunday, July 13, 2025. In this feature with WRR's Amy Bishop, Vaughan joins the organization's Production & Education Manager Jeff Tullis for an overview of the festival and the impact they're having on local music education.
WRR 101.1 Focus on the Arts
WRR weekend host Brooke Scholl sits down with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's assistant conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg to unpack her remarkable, last-minute debut leading the Dallas Symphony Orchestra after Music Director Fabio Luisi had to pull out due to a family emergency. With only days to prepare, Shira stepped onto the Meyerson podium to conduct a vivid program spanning Beethoven’s Leonore Overture No. 3, Mozart’s Symphony No. 40, and not one but two world premieres: Jonathan Cziner’s powerful new Clarinet Concerto, written for DSO principal clarinetist Gregory Raden, and Jasmine Guo’s evocative The Sound of Where I Came From. We’ll hear how she navigated the intensity, the inspiration, and the whirlwind of bringing complex new music to life—while earning an ovation for her clarity, confidence, and artistry on a night that became newsworthy for all the right reasons.
