Somewhere on campus behind a desk in the Education Program office sits a dedicated program assistant by day and a renowned musician by night.

An employee here for three years, Kim Davenport and her father Michael were recently considered for a classical music Grammy nomination for their newest album, Chaconne: Recital for Bass Clarinet & Piano. Despite not being nominated for a Grammy, Davenport says that she was simply excited to be involved in the process.

“It is wonderful, after putting in all of the work of recording and producing the recording, to share the completed result with everyone interested in our music,” said Davenport.

In addition to creating and managing their own independent label, Alea Recording, the Davenport family does all of the work involved in producing the recordings. Using their own equipment in their home studio, Kim does all of the audio editing work and her mother, an artist, creates original artwork to complete the layout design for the compact disc and packaging.

“Being in control of all of the elements of production allows us a lot of freedom and allows us to work on our own schedule,” said Davenport.

The Davenports completed the recording for this album in June and July of 2002, finished the production work in July and then released the album in August. Chaconne is their second album and they are currently beginning work on their third album expected to be released later in 2003 or early in 2004.

“There is a piece on the recording called Chaconne, and it is really the centerpiece of the recording, which is why we chose to name the album that,” said Davenport. “A ‘Chaconne’ is a musical form in which a short idea is introduced and then many variations are built on that idea.”

According to Davenport, the album is something her and her family have all worked very hard on completing. Both her and her father spent a lot of time selecting and preparing the music for the album. Although the two were particular about the content, Davenport explained that the recording and production of the album was not difficult or time consuming.

Born in Tacoma and raised in Seattle, Davenport grew up in a family of musicians therefore she has always been involved in music.

Her father performed and taught music privately while she was growing up and her mother was her first piano teacher. Davenport began taking piano lessons when she was six and still plays.

“Although I have played other instruments, clarinet and saxophone, I now focus completely on the piano - that is the instrument I love to play,” said Davenport.

When she is not working or recording music, Davenport also finds time to stay in shape, spend time with her family and her dog, watch movies, read and teach a piano class.

“Music is basically what I’m doing whenever I’m not working here or relaxing,” said Davenport. “I practice the piano every day, teach a small class of piano students, rehearse with my father frequently and often accompany for local musicians and ensembles. Most evenings and weekends are filled with music.”

Davenport earned her bachelor’s degrees from UW in 1997 with a double major in music, earning both a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Music. She then continued on to Northwestern University in Illinois where she earned a Master of Music degree in 1998.

“Kim talks about music a little bit at work, but not very much,” said Carla Van Rossum, a coworker in the Education program. “She talks about her piano students sometimes and from time to time, she will talk about a performance she is doing. I also read a review of her CD that she did with her father, in a music publication. It was extremely complimentary of the CD.”

As a program assistant in the Education program office, Davenport’s position requires her to be responsible for many tasks. She manages student admissions, the program’s Web site

and databases, processes purchasing and reimbursements, works with faculty and students on things such as grades, syllabi, course evaluations and also provides back-up support for the reception and for faculty on special projects.

“I love working at UWT, but my long-term goal is to be able to support myself as a musician,” said Davenport. “I look forward to continuing to record with my father, and also to releasing a solo recording, which I hope to do in the next few years. I really enjoy teaching, both private lessons and in a classroom setting, so I look forward to doing more of that and building my skills as a teacher.”

According to Davenport, her audience is worldwide and she reaches them through her Web site www.bassclarinet.org. The site is designed to provide a free resource for other musicians or classical music listeners.

“An example of the worldwide reach of our recordings, our first CD was reviewed in an Australian magazine and Chaconne has just been reviewed by a British magazine,” said Davenport. “It is exciting to meet fellow musicians around the world and hear their feedback on our work.”

Entering the album through their recording label, copies of all the entered recordings were then sent to the voting members and music professionals from around the country. From there the voting then led to the nominations.

“We’re all very proud of the success we’ve had so far, and look forward to working on more projects in the future,” said Davenport.