Prague is overloaded with great classical ensembles, but it's a rare group that can make the transition to other musical genres. It's even more remarkable to find a group of Ensemble Martinu?'s caliber performing at a bare-bones industrial space like Roxy NoD. But an unusual program calls for a distinctive venue — and in this case, the city's grand concert halls won't do.

"The main idea of this program is to present jazz and rock elements in classical music," says Miroslav Matejka, the flute player and leader of Ensemble Martinu?. "To do that, you need a certain kind of atmosphere. Churches are good for Baroque, and Mozart sounds great in a castle. This music needs a modern, experimental space."

It may come as a surprise to learn that there are any rock and jazz elements in classical music, much less the other influences promised in this program: swing, Latin and, believe it or not, funk. What might be more accurate is to say that there are many such strains in contemporary classical music, a wide-ranging idiom far removed from the restrictions of familiar classical music of earlier centuries.

Case in point: Fusion Music (1990) by young Czech composer Lukás Hurník, which opens the program. With the piano and cello acting as a rhythm section, the violin and flute carry the melody in the piece, which melds licks from rock 'n' roll, 12-bar blues and funk. Martin Hybler's Imaginary Dances (2004) uses a similarly variegated mix in its four movements,three of which will be played on this program, including a "rock minimal dance."

Those two pieces feature Matejka with his usual ensemble: Radka Preislerová on violin, Bledar Zajmi on cello and Markéta Janácková on piano. Drummer Tomás Kapek, who plays in Boom Bác, pop star Lucie Bíla's band, joins them for the remainder of the concert, starting with Michal Rataj's Parallel (dis) Harmony (2001). The drums take the lead in that piece, running free-form while the other instruments provide jazz-flavored accompaniment.

Ivan Kurz's Temptations (1988/2002) is almost a tone poem, building from quiet piano interludes to all-out blasts from the full quartet set to rock rhythms on the drums. Originally composed for a Baroque jazz quintet — seriously! — it incorporates elements of jazz and swing. The scheduled program concludes with a set of tangos written by 20th-century Argentinian composer Astor Piazzolla. And there's an encore possibility of Variations and Paraphrases on West Side Story (2001), composer Alexej Fried's sprightly take on the Leonard Berstein score.

Ensemble Martinu? has played literally all over the world — last year alone, in Brazil, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Ukraine. In October the group is going to China to play a concert in the Forbidden City, and next year has a trip planned to the United States. The globe-trotting comes through in their music, which is grounded in the traditions and training of Central Europe but has a distinct modern edge, just different enough to be refreshing.