ORGANIZATION HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

Bring Our Music Back, Inc, was created in January 2009, originally as a Lyme/Old Lyme senior class project to give youth talent performance opportunities and mentorships with National Recording artists by showcasing young talent at Harkness Memorial State Park as an adjunct to a Summer Concert Season. The success of the first 2009 Harkness concerts led to the development of a 501(c)3.

In January 2010, this vision grew and we incorporated to produce our First Annual “August Nights at Harkness… Music the Way it Was!” with two concerts. Our primary objective was to revive the 20-year tradition of the revered simple days of Summer Music, developing it into a sustainable summer concert event for families and people of all ages to enjoy music outdoors at one of the State’s most treasured landmarks,

Harkness Memorial State Park.  

In 2011, Bring Our Music Back, Inc was awarded a 5-year contract by the State of Connecticut to produce a summer concert series at Harkness Memorial State Park, promoted statewide as a shoreline summer destination. We again produced 2 concerts and the attendance grew as we were beginning to make a presence in southeastern Connectocut. 

In 2012, we increased our concert series from 2 concerts to 4 concerts spanning the month of August. 

In 2013, we rebranded our ”August Nights at Harkness" to “Summer Nights at Harkness” with the expansion to 5 concerts now spanning the months of July and August. This past year, we have incorporated our “Music with Purpose” position and have given back to the community and arts & music programs within local public schools where funding has been severely cut. Over the last 3 years, we have successfully began the restoration of summer music at Harkness Memorial State Park.

In 2014 and beyond, our goal is to sustain and continue to build this summer tradition growing steadfastly over the coming years as we strive to expand our programming and audiences. We plan to not only make this a summer destination for southeastern Connecticut, but also a cultural event for the entire State of Connecticut and our neigbors as an annual "Music Under the Stars" concert series held at Harkness Memorial State Park!