Music by the Lake is a concert series that was originally presented in the 1950s and 1960s on what then was known as the George Williams College Lake Geneva campus. The series featured top performing artists such as Isaac Stern, Robert Merrill, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and John Denver. Groups and families gathered in and around the Lewis Auditorium, and enjoyed live performances.

When Lewis Auditorium was taken down in 1999, the Allyn Foundation presented a large tent to the campus. It was the wish of the Foundation that the tent be placed on the lakefront, on the former site of Lewis Auditorium, to honor the unique atmosphere of Music by the Lake. It provides a place designed specifically for the performing arts. The series was revived in July 2001 and has grown to feature outstanding performers, our own opera production, and record setting crowds.