In recognition of her efforts on behalf of American music, she was recently awarded a $1,000 matching grant from the Presser Foundation, a Philaelphia-based music foundation. The sum is intended to aid in the publication of a composition that might not otherwise be commercially feasible. Ms. Smith plans to bring out Ben Johnston's Sixth String Quartet, a microtonal work that has been performed and recorded by the New World Quartet.

"There are so many composers out there and so few publishing outlets," she said in an interview at her home just outside northwest Baltimore. "The competition to get published is fierce. You'd be surprised how many well-known composers have no publishing outlet. It's probably easier to have a piece of new music performed than it is to have it published."

Years ago Mrs. Smith who studied piano and violin as a child, resolved to fill a much-needed role in the American musical scene.

"There were already quite a few publishers for etudes and educational music," she said, "and 1 didn't want to duplicate those functions. There was also plenty of support for composers in Europe, so I decided from the first to limit myself to living American composers. That's really the problem.

"There's a lot of music being written in this century that could pass for music of an earlier period, music that's not necessarily exploratory. I wanted to lend my support to what is genera"y referred to as New Music, works that try to do something new that hasn't been done before, but do it nonetheless with care and thoughtfulness -- quality music."

She began by sending out 50 letters announcing the opening of Smith Publications and soliciting manuscripts. By using the College Music Society's directory, she was able to Sylvia Smith reach the major music departments across the country. Manuscripts flooded in. The first year she published 14 works by 12 composers.

She now publishes between five and 12 new works each year, depending on length. Production time varies between a few months to a couple of years, depending on the readiness of the score.

"I accept a very small percentage of the scores that come in," she said, "maybe one out of 100. I've turned down scores by well known composers. Fame and quality don't always go together. I try as much as possible to focus on quality as I see it.

"Actually most of the new compositions I've published lately were works sent to me on a regular basis by previously published composers. I get one or two pieces a year from several composers, so that alone is a lot of new work."

Early on Mrs. Smith decided to go against the trend in music publishing by printing the scores rather than relying on cheaper duplicating methods.

"The product doesn't look nearly as good photocopied," she said, "and it's hard to beat the combination of sturdy paper and quality printing.

"I print in editions of 100 to 1,000. You don't have the mass market W music that you have in literature You can't expect to create best-sellers, but you do get continuous sales over the decades."

Because of a number of standing orders for everything she published Mrs. Smith figures she is able to break even on a particular item in about a year. Some 15 or 20 music libraries make a practice of acquiring all new music published in the United States. Interest in the scores exists beyond U.S. shores, mainly in Europe but also in Japan, Australia and South Africa.