NSS Music was incorporated earlier this year; the first CDs from the label, a duo recording with pianist Anne-Marie McDermott and a disc of concertos with conductor Marin Alsop and the Colorado Symphony, were released this month. Koch Entertainment is manufacturing the CDs and distributing them in North America; they are also available through www.nssmusic.com.

In a statement released by her publicist, Salerno-Sonnenberg said that despite her prominence, she has been frustrated with the traditional outlet for classical recordings.

"My experience has been very 20th century," she said. "I had an exclusive contract with a major label"—EMI—"but what I gained in ego strokes, I lost in control.

"For example," she said, "this is the year of the centenary of Dmitri Shostokovich, whose first violin concerto I recorded in 1991. It was an extremely successful recording, but I had to go to the label, remind them that it existed, and encourage them to re-release it to mark this anniversary. They just weren't attuned to seeking out and taking advantage of such opportunities."

The new duo disc, recorded live at Lincoln Center, includes music by Schubert, Poulenc, and Beethoven; the orchestral recording, made in Denver's Boettcher Hall, includes the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto and a concerto by Clarice Assad, a Brazilian-born pianist, singer, and composer.

Upcoming recordings from the label include an album with Assad's father and uncle, the guitarists S_rgio and Odair Assad, with whom Salerno-Sonnenberg has collaborated several times; a cycle of Prokofiev sonatas with McDermott; and a solo album by Clarice Assad.