They were followed by public concerts and lectures, titled "Internationale zeitgenössische Musiktage" (International contemporary music days) from 22 to 29 September, held in collaboration with the city of Darmstadt, its Landestheater, and the broadcasters Süddeutscher Rundfunk and Radio Frankfurt.

[5] Events included an exhibition of the Neue Darmstädter Sezession, "Zeitgenössische deutsche Kunst", and also Carl Orff's opera Die Kluge, and the award ceremony of the Georg Büchner Prize to Fritz Usinger.

[5]: 5–8 During the first years of the event, a focus was on German premieres of works, sometimes decades after their composition, by composers such as Arnold Schönberg, Anton Webern, Igor Stravinsky and Béla Bartók.

[5]: 21  That year, a symphony concert was dedicated exclusively to Schoenberg's works, including the German premiere of his Violin Concerto, honouring his 75th birthday.

[6] Lectures were held by instructors such as Theodor W. Adorno, René Leibowitz, Heinz-Klaus Metzger, and later Carl Dahlhaus and Rudolf Stephan, offering critical reflection of advanced composition.

Composers such as Edgard Varèse, Olivier Messiaen,[b] Ernst Krenek, Earle Brown[9][10] and John Cage visited, presenting their work and aesthetic in composition classes, and contributing to worldwide recognition of the institution.

[6][11] Composers such as, initially, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Pierre Boulez, Luigi Nono, Bruno Maderna, and later Luciano Berio, Aldo Clementi, Franco Donatoni, Niccolò Castiglioni, Franco Evangelisti, Karel Goeyvaerts, Mauricio Kagel, Gottfried Michael Koenig, Giacomo Manzoni, Henri Pousseur, Helmut Lachenmann, and Brian Ferneyhough presented their radical approach and theories.

[6] Notable performers instructed in new playing techniques, and works by young composers (Nachwuchskomponisten) were offered in so-called Atelierkonzerte (atelier concerts).