For immediate release: April 24, 2008 Contact: Christine Paul, 617.876.0956 x623
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Longy student Dennis Shafer receives Legacy Prize from Creativity Foundation Actress Meryl Streep also to be honored April 25 for creative vision
Photo by Arthur Feller
Cambridge, Mass. — Dennis Shafer, a graduate student at Longy School of Music, will receive a 2008 Legacy Prize from the Creativity Foundation, based in Washington, D.C. He will receive the award at special ceremonies held in the nation’s capital on April 25.
The foundation also chooses a nationally prominent leader to receive the Creativity Laureate Prize. This year’s recipient is two-time Academy Award–winning actress Meryl Streep, who will be honored at the Baird Auditorium of the Natural History Museum on April 25. The next day, current and past Laureates and Legacy winners are invited to a round table to discuss their creative visions and the importance of mentoring—inspiring, invigorating and advancing other young men and women to be of service to their country.
“To choose a winner of this prestigious student award, we look for creative spark, originality and imagination,” said Karen Zorn, president of Longy, which is among five institutions designated as Legacy partners by the Creativity Foundation. Each of these partners annually select students with outstanding creative abilities for the Legacy Prize.
Dennis Shafer, winner of this year’s award at Longy, is from Lawrence, Kansas. He is enrolled in the Artist Diploma program at Longy’s world-renowned music conservatory. “Dennis is an accomplished saxophonist who has demonstrated innovation in his musical studies and a commitment to engaging the larger community, both on and off campus,” said Zorn, who made the final selection, based on nominations by department chairs. To be eligible, students must be a third-year undergraduate or first-year graduate student. Legacy winners fill an important mentoring role during their final year at Longy, especially through their work with the school’s outreach programs.
Among Shafer’s achievements that led to his selection, he has organized main-stage performances in Boston and Paris, France, and has led outreach programs to schoolchildren in both cities. This summer for the organization Global Works, he will be leading a group of U.S. teenagers who will do 40 hours of community service while being immersed in native French culture and language.
About Dennis Shafer A native of Lawrence, Kansas, Dennis Shafer, age 26, returned to Boston in 2007 from Paris, where for several years he studied and performed with contemporary saxophonist Jean-Michel Goury. In Paris, Dennis worked with several great composers and saxophonists, including Francois Rosse, Etienne Rolin, Yosh'ko Seffer, Francois Coutinaud and Rico Gubler. He also premiered works by Robert Lemay, Jacques Hetu, Yosh'ko Seffer, and toured with various ensembles across France, as well as Austria and Hungary. Dennis Shafer is the founder and co-founder of several groups, including Le Tapis Volant, the Skyline Quintet, the Back Bay Saxophone Quartet and the Opus Jazz Duo. In particular, he co-founded Sounds in Bloom with his partner Norma Szokolyai, an educator and performance poet. He received a Bachelors of Music cum laude from the Boston Conservatory in 2004. He has premiered works by Robert Morris, Micheal Paull, and Larry Bell, and he is now an Artist Diploma student at Longy School of Music, where he recently won the Concerto Competition. He studies with saxophonist Kenneth Radnofsky at Longy.
About the Creativity Foundation Inspired by the example of Benjamin Franklin, the Creativity Foundation describes itself as an institution committed to relentless intellectual pursuit, the maintenance of an independent yet flexible point of view, and a devotion to public service. It has initiated two programs: the Creativity Laureate Prize, honoring established creative thinkers, and the Legacy Prize, which identifies and encourages the achievement of motivated individuals at or near the start of their careers. The Foundation brings together the world’s most innovative thinkers to share their experiences and encourage imagination, curiosity and originality in others. Among previous Laureate recipients are cellist Yo-Yo Ma, author Jules Feiffer and media mogul Ted Turner. Legacy Prize winners have emerged from institutions such as Harvard University and the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC. The mission behind the Legacy Prize derives from the 1789 codicil to Benjamin Franklin’s will, which provided a fund for awarding silver medals to outstanding students in Boston’s free grammar schools. Medals have been presented in Boston annually since 1793. The Creativity Foundation has since expanded Franklin’s legacy beyond the Boston area to include additional high schools, universities and service organizations. Individuals are chosen by their home institution, based on criteria that reflect its values. Legacy Prize winners must demonstrate great creative promise and inspiration in their discipline or in public service.
About Longy School of Music “Preparing musicians to make a difference in the world” is the mission of Longy School of Music. Founded in 1915 by celebrated oboist Georges Longy, the school a degree-granting Conservatory and school of Preparatory and Continuing Studies located in Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It currently serves 223 undergraduate and graduate students from 37 states and 21 countries, and nearly 1,000 children and adults from the Greater Boston area. For all students, Longy provides a distinguished faculty that promotes profound musical understanding and technical mastery, encourages growth of imagination, and fosters inquiry about the role of music and the musician in the larger world. It is accredited by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges and the National Association of Schools of Music.
