Musique à la Mode, french for "music in style" was formed by Hannah Shields, Jeffrey Worthey, Jennifer Taira, Ed Klorman, and Laurie Rubin in August 2007. The group shares the desire to bring music to a diverse audience, to keep classical music relevant to our current time, and to give the composers of our day a venue and musical palette for their new works. In experimenting with different formats by integrating elements of theater, visual art, and multimedia in their concerts, they hope to bring classical music to a diverse audience. They also find it important to create programs of music that communicate social or political messages relevant to the current time. In a world that is constantly changing, they understand that the audience for classical music isn't as it once was, and that in order for classical music to still have meaning, they must keep up with societal and technological change.

The ensemble produces an annual 3-concert series, "Musique at the Bowery", which had it's first concert on November 11th, 2007 where a large and enthusiastic audience enjoyed a "Schubertiad", topped off with wine, and good food, quite like a similar gathering in Schubert's day.  The season continued with a concert of works that tell a story, featuring a staged reading of Stravinsky's "A Soldier's Tale”, complete with actors and props. The third and culminating concert was entitled "Women's Voices, Women's Vision", featuring works by women composers (including a performance by world renowned composer and pianist Gabriela Lena Frank) in conjunction with an art exhibit, presenting the works of 13 women visual artists.  In October 2008, the ensemble was invited by composer Adam Silverman to give a concert at West Chester University in Pennsylvania on their new music series. In February 2009, Musique a la Mode will be giving a benefit concert for the Hetrick-Martin Institute.  Composer Lowell Liebermann will be performing his Quintet for Piano and Strings with members of the ensemble.  In April, Musique à la Mode will present their second annual women in the arts event which will feature a guest performance by flutist, Tara O'Connor.