Mission of the Music Ark: To promote and preserve musical, cultural, ecological, and biological diversity

Ready, fire, aim!

1. Get a big ship.
2. Place on board 2 of every musical instrument. (Must be good breeding stock.)
3. Recruit a multitude of talented, accomplished musicians to act as teachers.
4. Like Semester at Sea, students will cruise the open waters-stopping at ports of musical and cultural interest along the way, learning from senior musicians, and participating in the ferment of musical innovation on the ship itself.
5. At port cities, large concerts will be staged, headed by name acts. A portion of the proceeds will be devoted to promoting ecological and biological diversity.
6. The ship will be a floating musical instrument library. Surplus instruments will be distributed to people who cannot afford to buy them.
7. The ship will be outfitted with onboard recording gear, as well as portable units to take onto land for field recordings.
8. A database of traditional world music will be developed by the Music Ark's staff and participants.

The chief goals of the Music Ark are:

• To promote and preserve the remarkable variety of musical traditions and styles.
• To spawn musical innovation and encourage fresh compositions and styles as a natural outgrowth of the interactions among the persons and instruments on board.
• To serve as an emissary and living model of peaceful, beneficial exchange among diverse cultures and individuals through the medium of music-enriching the lives of everyone touched by the Music Ark, and inspiring new forms of beneficial exchange in other spheres.
• To be a Solution Center for promoting ecological and biological diversity, by incubating, accumulating, and enacting ideas, resources, and funds.