What I would have done with $600 million...musically speaking that is?!

Well, I was a bit surprised not to have won the MEGA Millions lottery last night. Not winning threw off my "to do" list of plans for the weekend. Oh, well. What would I have done with so much money anyway? I love all the blogs and Facebook updates where people admit (now that they know they lost) that the money would ruin them and it wouldn't be worth the hassle. Really??

I bought a few tickets - hey, you never know. There was a small...ok, very small chance of winning, but it was fun to dream for a few minutes. We all have thoughts on how we would spend the money and I would imagine most of us have many of the same goals and gifts we would like to own, but I also thought about how I could use the money to do some good within the realm of - music.

One of the areas of concern I have involving world music is the preservation of much of the traditional music that slowly seems to be disappearing. I equate this to nothing more than generations getting older and not making it a priority to hand down the music so that younger generations can appreciate it.

Typically, the music I perform was developed decades, even centuries, ago. I fear that my generation is one of the last ones to appreciate the music I grew up listening to at live events and weddings. I used to deny the fact that this music was slowly disappearing, but now I can see that it is. Unless the younger generation learns to appreciate this music, I worry that my children may only hear this music when I actually play it and nowhere else.

So, back to the money. I would invest in having all traditional world music taught in the school system. The younger the better. Let the children hear this form of music played on traditional instruments they rarely see in the school system.

I would also offer course work to the college students that appreciate music. Whereas I am not sure all of the colleges/universities operate in this manner, I do know it is not common to have world music courses taught.

Finally, I would sponsor more concerts that feature world music artists. Have you ever seen musicians such as Yuri Yunakov or a Chinese harpist? I could fill pages and pages with names of talented musicians that still are trying to preserve their folk music. Presenting them on a main stage for thousands to witness would be breathtaking.

Next time you buy a lottery ticket, think about what you could do with it that would bring good to others.