Not every moment needs to be a full-focus moment.
I reminded my students in our Festival warmup room this morning that we were in a full-focus moment for the next 25 or 30 minutes. I also reminded them that I didn’t ask for full-focus moments all the time.
Indeed, I think that asking for full focus all of the time isn’t beneficial. It can even undermine the energy of the ensemble.
It reminds me of this quote from Oliver Burkeman’s Meditation for Mortals:
“An anonymous comment on a Washington Post article by the advice columnist Carolyn Hax, ‘My mom used to get really upset at what she perceived as my half-assing. I’m 48 now, have a PhD and a thriving and influential career, and I think there is very very little that’s worthy of applying my whole entire ass. I’m not interested in burning myself [out] by whole-assing stuff that will be fine if I half- or quarter-ass it. Being able to achieve maximum economy of ass is an important adult skill.’”
Learning to bring the right level of focus and energy to the situation is essential, and ensemble directors have a unique opportunity to help students develop that skill.