It's an important moment — perhaps the most important — in every musician's life: deciding when to leave formal training behind and strike out on one's own.

Self-styled French double bassist Renaud Garcia-Fons certainly valued the technical training of his conservatory days, and he learned from the diverse musicians and types of music to he discovered in that setting. But ultimately, his music is about looking inward.

"Nothing can replace what you learn on your own. Absolutely nothing," Garcia-Fons said in telephone interview from Paris. "And the things you learn from your own explorations you take with you for the rest of your life."

Garcia-Fons, known for his custom five-string bass, will perform with his own Arcoluz Trio in a concert titled "Spring Into Jazz" tonight at Pennsylvania Academy of Music in downtown Lancaster.

Raised in the Paris neighborhood of Montmartre — long a favored spot of the world's great artists — Garcia-Fons discovered his chosen profession as a teenager. When he was 16, a friend allowed him to try his double bass, and the moment he touched it, he said, was "a revelation, like falling in love."

"Before that moment, all I ever knew about was rock 'n' roll and guitars and what was on the radio," Garcia-Fons said. "But for those few minutes when I got to hold the double bass and pluck its strings ... it was an inspiration, like receiving a storm into my heart."

Upon finishing high school, Garcia-Fons enrolled at the Paris Conservatory, which has trained such classical luminaries as Hector Berlioz, Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. After graduating from the conservatory, Garcia-Fons decided to expand his horizons and explore how other cultures, especially those in Asia and the Middle East, have used the double bass to create rich, haunting, nuanced sounds far from the formal concert halls of Europe.

"I want to make bridges," Garcia-Fons said. "I do not like how we put music into small boxes, saying 'This is jazz' or 'This is classical.' I think there's a place where all music can meet and flow from one thing into another, and that's what I wanted to explore."

In the early 1990s, Garcia-Fons signed a recording contract and released his first album, "Légendes" (1992). He has since developed an avid recording and touring career, earning plaudits from critics throughout France and French-speaking Canada. He broke into the English-speaking world in 2006 following a stellar review of his album "Arcoluz" in The Times of London.

Critics are particularly taken with Garcia-Fons' unique instrument: He added a fifth string on the upper end of the bass to expand its melodic capabilities.

At tonight's concert, the Garcia-Fons trio will play a mix of classical, jazz and flamenco music, much of it coming from "Arcoluz" and his most recent release, "La Linea Del Sur" (2009). The Arcoluz Trio consists of Garcia-Fons, flamenco guitarist Kiko Ruiz and percussionist Pascal Rollando.

Playing the five-string bass, Garcia-Fons said, is exciting because he feels as if he's inventing a new repertoire for a very old instrument.

"All I'm saying is that there are more possibilities here. I mean, it's still a bass, so let's get up on the stage and improvise," he said. "Adding the fifth string, for me, does nothing but open a door ... and creates a perfect sound in my mind."

Renaud Garcia-Fons and his Arcoluz Trio will perform at 4 p.m. this afternoon at Pennsylvania Academy of Music, 42 N. Prince St., in downtown Lancaster. Tickets cost $18 for adults and $5 for students. For more information, call 399-9733 or visit pamusacad.org.