About Mode

Our History

Founded in Chicago in 2012, Mode presented salon-style chamber music programs at the historic Fine Arts Building on South Michigan Avenue, pairing adventurous repertoire with food, wine, conversation, and thoughtful design.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, which halted live performance, Mode relocated its administrative home to Tampa, Florida, and registered as a Florida nonprofit corporation in 2023.

Our Mission

Mode was founded to reimagine how audiences experience classical music.

Traditional concert settings can sometimes create distance between performers and audiences. Mode began with a different idea: that exceptional classical music can also feel intimate, social, welcoming, and alive. By bringing accomplished artists together in salon-style settings, Mode combines adventurous programming with food, wine, conversation, and thoughtful design. The goal is to invite audiences into the music rather than ask them simply to observe it.

Mode also responds to a changing audience for live classical music. We believe the future of the art form depends not only on preserving great repertoire, but on finding new ways for people to connect with it. Our performances bring together original arrangements, imaginative themes, storytelling, and informal hospitality, giving audiences a chance to experience both familiar and lesser-known works in a setting that encourages curiosity and connection.

Mode was founded to remove some of the barriers, both real and perceived, that can make classical music feel formal, distant, or inaccessible, while maintaining a high level of artistic excellence. Our musicians bring experience from many of the world's leading orchestras, opera companies, conductors, and concert stages. Mode gives these artists a place to experiment, collaborate, and share that artistry with audiences in a more personal setting.

The result is more than a traditional concert. It is a shared cultural experience where music, history, food, conversation, and community come together. Mode exists to welcome new audiences to classical music, deepen the experience for longtime listeners, and show that this centuries-old art form can still feel fresh, relevant, and deeply human.

Timeline

  1. June 2012Mode founded in Chicago; debut program Début: à la mode
  2. September 2013Americana
  3. 2013–2014Chicago season: Der Schwarzwald, Dreamland
  4. April 2014Court of Versailles
  5. October 2014The Green Fairy
  6. 2023Registered as a Florida nonprofit corporation; administrative home in Tampa

Leadership

Christopher Buckler Christopher Buckler Flute + Artistic Principal
Ani Gogova Ani Gogova Piano + Production Principal
Kimberly Gunderson Kimberly Gunderson Soprano + Operations Principal

Meet the Ensemble

Our Artists' Experience

We've enjoyed worldwide success in solo and orchestral performances under the batons of Riccardo Muti, Sir Andrew Davis, Pierre Boulez, Bernard Haitink, Myung-Whun Chung, Charles Dutoit, Valery Gergiev, Alan Gilbert, Paavo Järvi, James Levine, and Michael Tilson Thomas, and have performed as members of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and the Los Angeles Philharmonic, among many others. We've also been featured on national broadcasts across the world.

Legal & Organizational Information

Legal name
Mode Ensemble NFP
Tax-exempt status
Mode Ensemble NFP is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt nonprofit organization.
EIN
46-3684719
State registration
Florida nonprofit corporation, Document No. N23000004396 (registered 2023)
Mailing address
1313 W Lemon St, Tampa, FL 33606
Email
info@modeensemble.com
Founded
2012, Chicago

Our tax-exempt status can be confirmed by searching EIN 46-3684719 in the IRS Tax Exempt Organization Search, and our corporate registration by searching Document No. N23000004396 at the Florida Division of Corporations (Sunbiz).