Cap Ferret is beautiful, and working a festival there can be wonderfully hectic. Between teaching, practicing, and performing, there’s a lot to hold in your head at once. You arrive with a plan, but you also have to be willing to adjust it.

Working a festival is an exercise in flexibility. Each student needs something different, time is precious, and your own preparation has to fit around the day as it unfolds. I’m reminded of how valuable it is to stay attentive even when I feel hurried. Sometimes a lesson needs a different approach from the one I had in mind.

Returning each year has become a ritual, and I enjoy how the experience accumulates. I bring back what I learned the previous summer, along with questions and discoveries from the months in between. Familiar surroundings give me a chance to notice what has changed in my teaching and playing. Each visit adds another layer of understanding.

I come away from Cap Ferret thinking about that balance: being prepared enough to do the work well, and flexible enough to respond to what’s actually happening. There’s plenty to practice in both.