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For centuries, the country turned its back on black musicians — including the jazz artists whose creations embodied freedom and empowerment. Today, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival is one of Africa's largest musical gatherings. Here are five musicians who played the festival this year.

The versatile composer, violinist and vocalist is one of just a handful of female musicians to earn the prize — and, at age 30, the youngest music winner ever.

As NPR's employees file their federal returns and take up shop in a new building, we look back at an interesting historical moment in the 1940s. A cabaret tax led to more jazz being performed in smaller venues that couldn't accommodate dancing. Of course, that's not the only reason why bebop sounds the way it does.

The English conductor was knighted in 1980 and won three Grammys — but did not reach the real heights of his career until he was in his sixties and seventies. Famed for his interpretations of Berlioz, Sibelius and Mozart as well as contemporary composers, he died at age 85 on Sunday.

Marking the 200th anniversary of the controversial composer's birth, conductor Marin Alsop and friends rethink Wagner in a series of multimedia concerts.

The pioneering electronic composer responsible for Silver Apples of the Moon turned 80 years old this week. Q2 Music visited with Subotnick and his wife in the couple's Greenwich Village apartment.

When the orchestra brings Bruckner's Eighth Symphony to New York, listeners hear an ensemble comfortable with the composer's quirks and thrills. Hear what one critic calls a "mesmerizing experience."

After a week on the town, with visits to the White House, the Opera House and Ben's Chili Bowl, NPR Music's Diva-in-Residence (and cardboard cut-out) makes her way to our brand-new headquarters.

The South African trumpeter is one of the giants of African music. Over his long career, he pioneered jazz fusion and even managed to bump the Rolling Stones from the U.S. charts. Still, at age 74, he says, "I feel like I'm just beginning."

The legendary musician, widely adored by brass players and fans around the globe, spent 53 years as the principal in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. He died Saturday at age 91. Watch some of his performances, including an extraordinary Mahler Fifth Symphony.