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 partnership with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN 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.
THE PLATFORM
High Note Global harnesses the power of culture to advance human dignity and inspire positive change. Across Music, Photography, and Cinema, it elevates artists and works that illuminate our shared humanity, challenge indifference, and move audiences from awareness to action. Founded in 2018 with High Note Music and High Note Photography, the platform expands in January 2027 with High Note Cinema—uniting three artistic disciplines around a simple conviction: culture has the power to change the world.
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.
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 via UN.org and exhibited at UN Headquarters in New York on UN Human Rights Day
Plans for High Note Cinema are being developed with global partners and will be announced in 2027.
The initiative envisions a curated program of the world's most powerful human rights films with our Global Impact Partner, UN Human Rights — bringing together filmmakers and audiences to explore stories that illuminate human dignity, inspire dialogue, and advance understanding. Details of the inaugural program, competition submissions, and first prize presentations will be shared as plans take shape.
Films will be drawn from the High Note Global 100 — our curated body of the world's one hundred most influential film festivals. Official selection at any festival on that list is an invitation to submit.
Three Global Prizes will be awarded annually: Best Feature Film, Best Short Documentary, and Best Short Narrative Film.
