HIGH NOTE GLOBAL

High Note Global is the global platform where culture and human rights converge — built on a singular belief: that music, photography, and cinema do not merely reflect the world, they have the power to change it.

In official partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (United Nations Human Rights) — the UN office charged with promoting and protecting the human rights of every person, in every country — High Note Global convenes iconic musicians, photographers, filmmakers, world leaders, and global institutions around a shared moral imperative: to place culture at the center of the human rights agenda.

It stands alone. No other cultural honor in human rights carries the institutional authority of United Nations Human Rights.

The High Note Global Prize in Music honors artists whose work advances human dignity — whether a single song that moves the world, or a body of work that sustains the movement at scale. Past laureates include Cyndi Lauper (2019), John Legend (2020), and Aryana Sayeed (2025).

High Note Concerts are global cultural activations aligned with the Prize and the causes it advances. Since 2023, the platform has staged concerts featuring Green Day, Ellie Goulding, and The Lumineers across the United States and the United Kingdom. Beginning in 2027, the Prize will be presented at intimate benefit concerts honoring each year's recipient — with the laureate using the night to champion the cause closest to their heart.

In 2027, the platform expands to include the inaugural High Note Global Legacy Prize — a posthumous honor recognizing music icons whose contributions to human dignity continue to shape culture long after the music was made. The inaugural recipient will be announced on July 12, 2026, the UN International Day of Hope.

The High Note Global Prize in Photography honors photographers whose images bear witness with extraordinary clarity — from climate displacement and inequality to conflict, migration, and the defense of fundamental freedoms. The Prize is awarded each year through Photography 4 Humanity, the platform's photography pillar since 2018.

Photography 4 Humanity invites artists around the world to capture images that illuminate dignity, injustice, resilience, and hope. The pillar harnesses photography's power as a universal language — one that transcends borders, cultures, and politics — to reveal the lived reality behind the words human rights, and to remind audiences that the promise is only meaningful when it is experienced in everyday life.

Each year, winning images are shared globally through UN.org and exhibited at United Nations Headquarters in New York on UN Human Rights Day — carrying the High Note Global voice into the rooms where rights are written, and into the world they are meant to serve.

The High Note Global Prize in Cinema honors filmmakers whose work expands the language of human-rights storytelling. Launching January 2027 in Boulder, Colorado, the Prize is awarded annually in three categories: Best Feature Film, Best Short Documentary, and Best Short Narrative Film.

Eligibility is anchored to the High Note Global 100 — our curated body of the world's 100 most influential film festivals. Filmmakers whose work has been officially selected at any festival on the list are invited to submit, ensuring that the Prize reflects the most urgent and ambitious cinema being made today.

In addition to the three Global Cinema Prizes, the platform recognizes outstanding films through the High Note Jury Prizes — awarded each year in eight enduring categories of human-rights storytelling: AI & Digital Rights, Climate Justice, Racial Justice, Gender Equality, LGBTQ+ Rights, Indigenous Rights, Migration & Displacement, and Human Dignity.