Lawrence native Dennis Shafer, a graduate student at Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Mass., poses with actress Meryl Streep after receiving the Creativity Foundation's Legacy Medal. He received the honor Saturday during a ceremony in Washington, D.C.

At age 26, a Lawrence High School graduate already is creating a legacy.

On Saturday, Dennis Shafer added the Creativity Foundation’s Legacy Medal to his impressive resume.

Not only did he receive the prestigious honor but also he received it from Academy Award-winning actress Meryl Streep, who received the foundation’s Creativity Laureate Prize. He also participated in a roundtable discussion with her and four other Legacy award winners.

“Being associated with such people is quite an honor,” he said.

Shafer is a graduate student at Longy School of Music in Cambridge, Mass., which is one of five colleges designated as Legacy partners by the Creativity Foundation. Each year, the colleges select five students for the Legacy award.

“Dennis is an accomplished saxophonist who has demonstrated innovation in his musical studies and a commitment to engaging the larger community,” said Karen Zorn, Longy president.

Glancing at Shafer’s list of achievements, it’s no wonder why he was chosen.

After graduating from LHS, Shafer received a bachelor’s degree cum laude from the Boston Conservatory in 2004. While there, he explored bringing music to the elderly in outreach projects. He also appeared in “Communique du Tango” as music director, composer, arranger and performer. He co-founded professional music groups such as The Skyline Quintet and the Back Bay Saxophone Quartet.

In 2004, he moved to Paris where he worked with several renowned saxophonists and composers such as Francois Rosse, Etienne Rolin and Yosh’ko Seffer. He founded Tapis Volant and Eastern Lamps. His conservatory’s saxophone ensemble traveled throughout France, playing for children and factory workers.

Shafer recently co-founded Sounds in Bloom with poet Norma Szokolyai. Besides performing internationally, the group prepares workshops for children and adults in performance poetry and composition.

Shafer, the son of Karl Birns and Terry Shistar, Lawrence, and Glenn Shafer and Nell Painter, Newark, N.J., credits much of his success to what he learned while growing up in Lawrence, where the school district, Kansas University and nearby Kansas City helped him flourish.

“People don’t realize how fortunate the music program is in Lawrence,” he said.

He particularly thanks Darrell Cox, who was his jazz teacher in junior high school, and Vince Gnojek, who taught him private saxophone lessons for six years.

“Those are two people that I really admire and learned a lot from,” Shafer said.

Now, he hopes to provide that same mentorship to others.

“Playing music and teaching is what I love to do,” he said.

After completing his graduate degree at Longy, Shafer plans to return to France to earn a Diplome d’Etat in Superior Pedagogy, a program that certifies a professor in musical pedagogy at the university level.