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14 October 2019 | Story Rulanzen Martin | Photo Sonia Small
OSM Camerata
The OSM Camerata also performed at the Rector’s Concert on 6 September under direction of conductor Elsabe Raath.


The Odeion School of Music Camerata (OSMC) is one of the flagship music ensembles at the University of the Free State (UFS). Its reputation as one of the country’s top student chamber ensembles far equlas its impeccable music.

At the end of September the Camerata undertook a tour with concerts in Pretoria and Johannesburg. They held a concert in the new Javett Arts Centre at the University of Pretoria (UP) where they presented a lunch-hour concert which featured modern musical arrangements. At a gala concert, on 28 September 2019, which was hosted in the Musaion Concert hall at UP they collaborated with the UP Department of Music and the Gauteng Chamber Music Festival.  

The last leg of the tour ended at the University of the Witwatersrand Atrium on 29 September 2019. According Marius Coetzee, innovation manager at the OSM: “it is important to go on tour in order to recruit new outstanding students and to showcase the excellence of the Camerata and the Odeion School of Music.” 

The OSMC has also forged a professional internship with the Cape Philharmonic Orchestra to solidify and advance the skills of the young orchestral musicians. 

The OSMC was also the 2017 and 2018 winner of the International Ictus Music competition.  

The OSMC was strategically founded by Marius Coetzee to serve as a feasible incubator for nurturing of fully rounded musicians who are thoroughly prepared for the demands of their trade as orchestral musicians, soloists and conductors.  

News Archive

Meet our Council: Passionate, progressive, and positive – Councillor Itumeleng Pooe
2017-07-13

Description: Itumeleng Pooe Tags: Itumeleng Pooe.  University Council, ambitiously entrepreneurial, progressive university, passionate about life 

Itumeleng Pooe, member of the UFS Council.
Photo: Johan Roux

Passionate, progressive, and unfailingly positive are the words coming to mind when one meets Itumeleng Pooe.  

Itumeleng was appointed to the University Council by the Minister of Education last year.  She is an alumna of North-West University and served as council member and deputy chair of the NWU Council from 2007 until 2014.  She also serves on the board of the Cape Town Hotel School.

Sees UFS as a very progressive university in the higher-education landscape

She is currently employed by the South African Maritime Agency, working at developing integrated national marine tourism and leisure.  In her own words, she is “ambitiously entrepreneurial” and also sells wine privately, working towards distributing amazing and exquisite South African wine in Africa.  

Itumeleng views the UFS as a very progressive university and a rising giant in the higher-education landscape in South Africa.

“I take my role as council member very seriously. I hope to use my marketing and communication expertise to propel the university’s brand as one of the most special places to study in Africa.  Internationalisation is also imperative and I believe I have a lot to offer in this regard,” she says.

Believes that transformation should be at the core of the university’s business
She also feels that transformation should be at the core of the university’s business and that it should remain ongoing.

Itumeleng is a very proud mother to two young adults; Kamogelo is a UCT BCom (Accounting) graduate and Kago studies digital marketing at Vega in Cape Town.

“I am an ardent hiker, reader, perpetual traveller and lover of exotic destinations, and aspiring cook. Honestly? I am just passionate about life,” she says.

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