THE FOUNDING PRINCIPLES with which NMC was launched are as true today as they were in 1989; and as we celebrate our 20th anniversary, we remain committed to bringing the finest recordings of the best of British contemporary classical music to as wide an audience as possible.   In a musical landscape in which a first performance is sometimes the only performance and publishers find it increasingly difficult to promote new work, the existence of a recording becomes more vital than ever.   NMC works closely with its network of distributors to make our composers' music available to international audiences, and the digital age has given us new opportunities to expand our reach.   The quality of the catalogue is reflected in the numerous awards and outstanding reviews which our recordings have received. Our catalogue ranges from the compositions of Britain's younger, emerging, talents — often their first recordings — to that of more established figures whose music bids fair to stand the test of time.   Alongside this, our Archive series features important works and historical recordings from the past century, while the Ancora series is dedicated to reissuing significant recordings deleted from other labels.   NMC's overriding principle of maintaining all the titles in the catalogue means that these recordings are now permanently available. Although we have enjoyed charitable status from the start, the financing of a label such as NMC is not easy.   We have been lucky to secure core funding from the Holst Foundation and the Arts Council of England.   But such resources are finite, and in 2004 we established NMC Friends to help support our aims.   We warmly welcome new members to help us continue our ambitions well beyond our twentieth year. NMC Recordings are distributed in Australia by Rockian Trading, P.O.Box 44, Briar Hill, Vic, 3088, Australia Telephone (03) 9432 4149 ~ Facsimile (03) 9444 6879