From 10 to 16 May 2026, the 51st International Computer Music Conference (ICMC) took place in Germany for the first time in 26 years. The ligeti zentrum of the IHS project LIGETI supplemented the official conference programme with the Off-ICMC: a free, six-day companion festival entitled "Music in Our Digital Age". Through public concerts, workshops, interactive performances, and an international Science Slam, it facilitated creative exchange between the international specialist audience and the general public of Hamburg Harburg.

The official conference motto "Innovation, Translation, Participation" was translated by the Off-ICMC into everyday questions: "What does music mean to you? What does it sound like today? Where does it begin, where does it end?" In order to reach the broadest possible audience and ensure maximum accessibility, many events were held in public spaces and well-established Harburg institutions, including the Harburg Info of Harburg Marketing, the Rathausplatz, the Stellwerk Hamburg, the Kultur Palast Harburg, and the ligeti zentrum itself.

The results speak for themselves: over the course of six days, 400 visitors engaged with the Off-ICMC's programme. "With the Off-ICMC, our interdisciplinary team succeeded in reaching audiences beyond the conventional conference context and in deliberately bringing the field of 'computer music' into public and non-university spaces," reported Nadine Schwalb, Head of the Agency for Mediation and Societal Participation. Media coverage further underscored the public interest in the intersection of research, music, and society. Features on the ligeti zentrum, the ICMC, and the Off-ICMC appeared, amongst others, on ByteFM, in the Hamburger Abendblatt, and on NDR Hamburg Journal, Kulturjournal, and NDR 90.3.