For the last month or so I’ve been using a new tactic to give ownership of the music to my singers.
Especially at the first time singing a piece in our weekly rehearsal, I will hold up my hand, and ask for five things they will want to concentrate on as we sing. Then I count down as they list things: general things like tone, intonation, vowels or specific things like, “I keep missing the line in measure 42.”
If it’s a quick stop to correct something, I might make the fix and then ask for two things.
It’s a quick way to keep them mentally engaged in the rehearsal, thinking about what they are doing.