Ofentse Pitse
Conductor | Architect | Speaker
Ofentse Pitse is a creative visionary whose enchantment of the African continent has helped carve a place for her in the world of orchestra music, architecture, and curated experiences. Hailing from the capital city of South Africa – Pretoria; her musical roots stem from her beloved late mother’s love for old school music, as well as her family’s deep heritage in The Salvation Army church, with her grandfather being one of the most prominent jazz trumpeters of his time.
She studied Architecture until Master’s level at the University of The Witwatersrand, where she would tackle complex themes of indigenous African knowledge systems, liminality, and the sacred practice of architecture. These explorations often included a sonic depth which speaks to her journey as an orchestra conductor whose roots are in African storytelling.
As a result, she titled her thesis ‘Spirit of place: Demystifying the significance of sangoma practices in our communities, education, and well-being, while looking at how they exist in modern spaces.’ This body of work includes sacred sonic landscapes that have shaped how Pitse interprets music.
It is with this invocation that she has been able to break barriers in the orchestra world, garnering recognition from global brands such as Veuve Clicquot, Forbes Africa, CHANEL, Woolworths, Bidvest, Toyota Global, Netflix, and Redbull; to name but a few.
For all her aspirations, Ofentse is inherently practical in her core beliefs:
“I want to drive inclusivity because it’s hard to belong, either in a boardroom or a soundstage. Being a black woman, I have had to learn how to assert myself in male dominated environments, to defend my work. And that is my purpose. To say to others who feel that they don’t belong – you can, you do, you must. There is no limit to what you can achieve.”
Date: 22 July 2025
Time: 18:00 – 19:00