In 1989 Valeriya recorded two albums. Her first English-language disc, "The Taiga Symphony" came out in 1991 via Shulgin Records. "Pobud' so mnoi" (Stay with me), a collection of traditional Russian romances, was released by Lad Records a year later. In 1992 she won the first prize in a national TV contest Morning Star. Also that year she won the international contest Bratislavskaya Lira and received an Audience Choice Award at Yurmala-92.