Ofentse Pitse

Conductor, Architect, Speaker

Meet Ofentse Pitse

Ofentse Pitse is a creative visionary who, though enchanted by the continent she comes from, possesses a wide-eyed enthusiasm for the world of architecture, music, 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 and a co-founder of the iconic Sophiatown jazz band – The Jazz Maniacs.

Pitse’s curiosity and love for music, led her to the introduction of the trumpet at just twelve-years of age. Her hard work and resilience propelled her into joining various church bands within the church, attracting classically trained mentors and coaches to guide her into growing her craft. As a result, she found herself constantly around brass bands, orchestras, and choirs, which catapulted her into creating a space for young, classically trained, disenfranchised youth to meet on Saturdays and rehearse various repertoires. She named this exceptionally talented group – Anchored Sound.

With the colossal vision she had for steering this group onto elevated global stages such as the Sydney Opera House, she reached out to celebrated conductors – Thami Zungu and Gerben Grooten for mentorship and coaching. As a result, she received immense recognition and earned the title of – “the first young, black female conductor of an all-black orchestra and choir in Africa.”

Her hard work and dedication have seen her 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 a few.

Additionally, one of her most notable collaborations was that of conducting and taking part in the recording with a 74-piece global female orchestra of color, in the re-imagination of Alicia Keys’ iconic pop ballad ‘If I ain’t got you’, for the spin-off of the Netflix series Bridgerton titled “Queen Charlotte”.

Coupled with that, she also spearheaded a special arrangement of 2Face Idibia’s most-loved song “African Queen”, for the Netflix Africa roll-out of the Queen Charlotte series, featuring female music giants – Msaki (South Africa), Nikita Kering (Kenya) and Fave (Nigeria).

Despite her success, Pitse still approaches her career with the eagerness to learn and be better than good enough; with a clear vision of creating space for African expression within classical music; which has seen her orchestra ensembles evolve since the formative years of Anchored Sound, continuing her passion for seeing young musicians excel.

Moreover, this dream inched closer to fruition, through her recent collaboration with Redbull and the titled ‘Red Bull Symphonic presents Kabza de Small and Ofentse Pitse, with the Symphonic orchestra’, a first of its kind, merging the world of orchestra with the biggest artist in the Amapiano genre. The success of this production received staggering reviews, cementing Pitse as a pioneering visionary of our time.

Her pursuit for growth and excellence has secured her a place as a scholar at the prestigious University of Cape Town, where she is currently enrolled in a specialized Postgraduate Diploma in Orchestra in Music Performance, with a focus on orchestra conducting. She receives world-class training from the illustrious Brandon Phillips, as well as Head of Opera UCT – Jeremy Silver.

For the immediate future, she has her eyes set on more unexpected collaborations across genres and art forms where she would be able to merge her architecture profession with the spaces she conducts and curates in.
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.”

From SA to Bridgerton? Pioneering conductor Ofentse Pitse on her ‘greatest career highlight’ so far – news24

So, it seems only fitting that the spin-off, Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, would have several instrumental versions for viewers to fall in love with.

Red Bull Symphonic: Kabza De Small With Ofentse Pitse and the Symphonic Orchestra

Ofentse Pitse, the first black South African woman to own and lead an all-black orchestra, is a pioneering force in the orchestral world.