Certain breads use what’s called a sponge to enhance the final loaf.
The baguette recipe I use (from Baking Illustrated) explains that using a pre-ferment method like a sponge enhances the flavor of the final loaf by enabling the yeast to fully mature rapidly in an unusually proportioned dough-batter (water, yeast, and some flour). After a few hours, you can add the sponge to the dough’s main ingredients and produce a delicious loaf quite quickly.
I am viewing the coming weeks and months as a sort of sponge for post-COVID music-making. I am using the ingredients of delicious choral ensemble work (repertoire, literacy, human connection) but in an unusual mixture, because I don’t have imminent concerts to be focused on.
Instead, I am slowly building a foundation that will, hopefully, help my ensembles to mature rapidly into musicality and ensemble excellence when the post-pandemic conditions allow it.