ABOUT
New England Music Organization (NEMO) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to supporting live music, music education, and community engagement across Rhode Island. Our mission is to ensure that musicians of all backgrounds—from students to seasoned professionals—have access to meaningful performance opportunities and the tools to grow their craft.
Since our founding in 2023, we’ve created impactful, free programs that bring people together through music. Our flagship initiative, the NEE Jam, is a bi-weekly jam session held at the Firehouse Theater in Newport. These open-access events feature a professional house band and give musicians of all ages a space to build skills, improvise, and connect. Each session is livestreamed and archived on our YouTube channel, which has reached over 162,000 views and 1,200 subscribers—serving as an educational and inspirational resource for aspiring artists.
In 2024, NEMO also took over production of NIMFest, Newport’s beloved summer concert series at King Park. Held annually for more than two decades, NIMFest features a diverse lineup of local and regional artists in a family-friendly, waterfront setting. Under NEMO’s leadership, the 2024 series attracted hundreds of attendees each week and furthered our goal of making live music accessible to everyone in the community.
Our Mission
The New England Music Organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization dedicated to providing the people of Rhode Island and New England with meaningful access to live music and music education, enriching lives with the power and beauty of music while supporting the local artists, technicians, and educators that create it.
Our free concerts, live streams, internships and collaborative musical events help to build a strong sense of community while introducing new music to New England and beyond.
Our work extends beyond performance. NEMO partners with local organizations like the Broadway Street Fair, Jane Pickens Theater, newportFILM, Newport Music, and the Friends of the Waterfront to produce high-quality events and provide production support. In 2025, we’re expanding our educational initiatives through a technical training internship with Middletown High School, offering hands-on experience in audio, video, and livestream production.
Generous support from funders like the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts, BankNewport, A1 Roofing & Construction, and the Hamilton Family Foundation helps make our work possible. As we grow, NEMO remains committed to creating opportunities for musicians, enriching the local arts landscape, and building stronger, more connected communities through music.