ICAS – International Cities of Advanced Sound – is a global network of independent non-profit organizations dedicated to advancing sound cultures, music, and related arts.

The ICAS network emerged out of the ECAS – European Cities of Advanced Sound network, when the ideas and potential for collaboration provided by the ECAS framework sparked interest from international partners. The ICAS network was thus conceptualized by founding members of ECAS and likeminded festivals in Europe, North and South America during Montreal’s MUTEK festival in 2009.

The ICAS network aims to support its members in building sustainable infrastructures to sustain, promote, and encourage experimental and critical sound cultures. Using a palette of transdisciplinary approaches, ICAS member organizations reflect on the aesthetic and societal agency of contemporary sound creation in regard to transformation processes induced by digital technology, and actively engage in building bridges between art disciplines, cultural fields, scenes, and genres.

Activities within events and festivals organized by ICAS members include concerts, performances, commissioned work, exhibitions, participatory projects, educational workshops, conferences, presentations, panel discussions, publications, and the curation of informal spaces for knowledge-sharing within and among fields. ICAS serves as an interface to intensify dialogue between its members and decision makers in cultural, political, and economic fields, propose alternative criteria for measuring success and regulating exchange, and increase public awareness concerning the issues addressed by ICAS and its member organizations.

The ICAS network is an open structure that welcomes the participation of new members.