Urban Lys Is a Multidisciplinary Cultural Agency.
Among the areas we work in are: management and producing of artists and music projects, marketing and PR, graphics and identity, photography and websites, advertising and communications, and sound and motion.
Music agency “Urban Lys” provides promotion, management and production services for artists, festivals and special cultural projects: marketing support, photography by Urban Lys Photos, video content, social media communication etc.
“Urban Lys” also works on export and promotion of the best Ukrainian music abroad.
Founded in Ukraine in 2017 “Urban Lys” is an organisation with multi-vector activities: from its own cultural projects aimed at developing and promoting Ukrainian culture and introducing current European music to Ukrainian listeners, to commercial services created at the request of musicians and cultural organisations/projects.
Currently based in Berlin in the terms of the full-scale russian invasion to Ukraine, the agency continues to work actively with the Ukrainian, German and international music scene.
Since 2023 “Urban Lys” is proud to represent Aly Keïta, providing his artistic management and promoting his art around the globe.
“Urban Lys” has a wide network of partners in different places of the world and Ukraine. Spreading the idea of freedom and creativity, supporting the resilience and cultural subjectivity of Ukraine, we remain committed to the principles of professionalism, responsibility and human rights values.
The People of Urban Lys.
The agency team is a “construction set” that is assembled in a proper configuration, depending on the scale, direction and geography of the project.
We also involve a large number of partners and contractors for the highest quality and most accurate implementation of the requests of our clients and projects. We are always open to cooperation with creative professionals who, like us, are in search of true cultural meanings and values.
About The Name
“Urban Lys” (“urban fox” in Ukrainian) is a character who, by changing the environment, remains himself, preserves his freedom and achieves his goals. Using the power of natural qualities among the achievements and imperfections of civilization, we combine the global, the deeply local and the universally personal.
Mission
All the diverse activities of the agency “Urban Lys” aimed at the implementation of the following main missions:
-
sharing ideas of multiculturality and diversity;
-
promoting of Ukrainian music and cultural heritage abroad;
-
increasing the export potential of Ukrainian artists;
-
promoting of actual European and global music in Ukraine.
The most important Urban Lys projects
For the promotion of Ukrainian culture in EU and UK
2021 - The first online catalogue of jazz musicians from Ukraine was made on the initiative of Urban Lys music agency in cooperation with Ukrainian Institute on the web site of urbanlys.com - designing and editing the first EPKs in English for more than 10 jazz bands from Ukraine.
April 2022 - The first official participation of Ukraine in the international jazz showcase conference jazzahead! - organisation in partnership with Ukrainian Institute: team, catalogue preparation and visual branding of the stand.
First printed catalogue «Jazz From Ukraine» - preparing materials, editing, design, layout.
Work on the visual style for the stand and posters in partnership with Design For Ukraine.
April 2022 - Concert project “Songs from/for Ukraine” feat. Viktoria Leleka and Kateryna Kravchenko in collaboration with Prof. Daniel Mattar and Hochschule für Musik Dresden, presented at the jazz club Tonne in Dresden.
Young singers from the Jazz Vocal Faculty at the Dresden Music Academy created and sang jazz arrangements of the rare Ukrainian folk songs – from Transcarpathia to Slobozhanshchyna and from Polissia to Crimea.
Music programming, workshop on Ukrainian folklore for the students of Dresden Music Academy, consulting, social media campaign, design for the project.
May 2022 - Management of performances of Mariana Sadovska and Ukrainian folklore bands Drevo, Dyvyna in the projects Ohr Zur Welt in Körber-Stiftung, Hamburg, and the Forde festival in Norway.
June 2022 - Organisation of the performance of jazz trio from Ukraine (Kyrylo Revkov, Illia Alabuzhev, Oleksiy Boholibov) in the project Montagsbalkon in Rostok, Germany. The performance was dedicated to the Constitution Day in Ukraine.
July 2022 - Project “Mariana Sadovska and Friends” - performance on the main stage of the Germany's largest and most prestigious festival for folk, world, and roots music Rudolstadt, taking place annually in Thuringia. The project united on one stage 18 prominent musicians from Ukraine and Germany.
Fundraising, project management, communications, visuals, photography
May 2023 - Jamala “QIRIM”: world premiere in Liverpool (GB). Ukrainian Eurovision Song Contest 2016 winner and singer songwriter Jamala performed a global premiere of the QIRIM album, accompanied by the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra at Liverpool’s Pier Head (Eurovision Village). Conductor Volodymyr Sirenko.
Fundreising, project and team management
2023-2025 - Promotion of Ukrainian jazz music in collaboration with Nikolaisaal Potsdam.
Organisation of the concert of Usein Bekirov quintet.
Promotion of the concerts of Tamara Lukasheva and Vadim Neselovskyi for the Ukrainian refugee community.
2024 - “Music of Ukrainian Resilience: National treasures of Ukrainian Music. Ten Centuries of Battle for Independence” is a three-part lecture in English created by the founder and CEO of “Urban Lys”, music journalist and promoter from Ukraine Olha Kovalevska. First lectures were presented to the international students of KIU Summer School Interdisciplinary Ukrainian Studies “War in Ukraine: Destruction of heritage – mastering legacy” (first in Germany studies on Ukraine) at the Europa-Universität Viadrina in October 2024.
2024 - Music support for the presentation of the first Ukrainian studies in Germany at the Europa-Universität Viadrina (feat. Ganna ensemble and jazz pianist Yuriy Seredin)
2024, 2025 - Urban Lys music agency was selected by Initiative Musik to become a part of the German delegation at the biggest showcase of world music WOMEX. Representing Ukrainian music in Manchester, GB, and Tampere, Finland.
2018, 2022 - representing Ukraine and promoting Ukrainian jazz at the Luxembourg Jazz Meetings and Shuffle in Luxembourg.
2022 - till now. Photoproject “Documenting Ukrainian culture” - photography initiative by Urban Lys Photos. Photo and video documentation of events, organised by Ukrainian diaspora and refugee communities in Berlin, Potsdam and other occasional locations.
Photosessions for Ukrainian musicians from diaspora and refugee communities.
Photos of Ukrainian cultural events and artists by Urban Lys Photos were published in such media: Der Tagesspiegel, Märkische Allgemeine, taz, Culture.pl, The Claquers, Counterpoint magazine and others.