Musicians
Mirroring Dallas’s cosmopolitan landscape, the musicians of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra have come from around the globe to make exceptional music here. Meet the artists who help the DSO achieve its international acclaim.
Fabio Luisi
GRAMMY® Award winner Fabio Luisi launched his tenure as Louise W. & Edmund J. Kahn Music Director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra (DSO) at the start of the 2020/21 season. In January 2021, the DSO and Luisi announced an extension of the Music Director’s contract through the 2028/29 season. A maestro of major international standing, the Italian conductor is in his seventh season as Principal Conductor of the Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and in September 2022, he assumed the role of Principal Conductor of the NHK Symphony Orchestra in Tokyo. He previously served for six seasons as Principal Conductor of the Metropolitan Opera and nine seasons as General Music Director of the Zurich Opera.
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Shira Samuels-Shragg
American conductor Shira Samuels-Shragg is the newly appointed assistant conductor of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, beginning in the 2024/25 season. Shira was recently selected for The Dallas Opera’s Hart Institute, and as a 2024 mentee of the Taki Alsop Conducting Fellowship. Shira is currently the assistant conductor for the Spokane Symphony Orchestra, while completing her second season as assistant conductor with the Plano Symphony Orchestra. Recently, Shira guest conducted interdisciplinary concerts with the Spokane, Corpus Christi, Irving, and South Bend symphony orchestras. She is passionate about sharing the wonders of music with young audiences and has led education concerts with the Spokane and Plano symphonies for over 60,000 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.
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Jeff Tyzik
GRAMMY® Award winner Jeff Tyzik is one of America’s most innovative and sought after pops conductors. Tyzik is recognized for his brilliant arrangements, original programming and engaging rapport with audiences of all ages. This is the eleventh season that Tyzik has held The Dot and Paul Mason Principal Pops Conductor’s Podium at the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. He also serves as Principal Pops Conductor of both the Detroit Symphony and the Oregon Symphony. The 2023/24 season will mark Tyzik’s 30th season as Principal Pops Conductor of the Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra. Tyzik made his debut with the Cleveland Orchestra in July 2022 at the Blossom Festival and will conduct the New York Philharmonic and the Philadelphia Orchestra in the 23/24 season.
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Enrico Lopez-Yañez
Enrico Lopez-Yañez is the Principal Pops Conductor of the Detroit, Nashville, and Pacific Symphonies as well as the Principal Conductor of the Dallas Symphony Presents and Principal Guest Conductor for Pops of the Indianapolis Symphony. Lopez-Yañez has quickly established himself as one of the Nation’s leading conductors of popular music and become known for his unique style of audience engagement. Also an active composer/arranger, he has been commissioned by the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Houston Symphony, San Diego Symphony and Omaha Symphony, and has had his works performed by orchestras including the Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, National Symphony, Phoenix Symphony, Seattle Symphony, and Utah Symphony among others.
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Anthony Blake Clark
Dallas Symphony Chorus Director Anthony Blake Clark (Jean D. Wilson Chair) is a leading voice among his generation of choral conductors. He is in demand by both amateur and professional choral artists because of his “readily apparent musicality” (Baltimore Sun), and his conviction that lives can be changed by participating in classical music, whether on the stage or in the audience.
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Sophia Jani
Sophia Jani is a German composer of contemporary classical music who takes a poetically minimalist approach to composition. Her music has recently been performed by the New Jersey Symphony, the Munich Symphony, Bang on a Can, musicians of the Dallas Symphony, the Goldmund Quartet, vocal sextet Sjaella, pianist Eunbi Kim and the Dandelion Quintet, among others. Performance venues include the Elbphilharmonie, Lincoln Center, Baryshnikov Arts Center, MASS MoCa, as well as The Green Space. She has also contributed music to successful film, theater, dance and album projects.
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