Questioning our own artistic practice is a conditio sine qua non for profound artistic development. An inquisitive and searching attitude has the purpose of understanding better and thereby developing, the art of music-making. 

In this lecture, some thoughts will be presented on how a reflective attitude can stimulate a musician to follow new paths and how these acts have the potential to enhance artistic development. I will do this on the one hand by presenting the work that the Association of European Conservatories (AEC) has produced on this topic over the last three years, and on the other hand by showcasing some hands-on examples of how individual musicians put this into practice.