High Note Global
High Note Global is the global platform where culture and human rights converge — built on a singular belief: that music 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 institution charged with safeguarding the rights of all 193 UN Member States — High Note Global convenes iconic musicians, filmmakers, world leaders, and global institutions around a shared moral imperative: to place culture at the center of the human rights agenda.
"First-Ever Nobel Prize In Music." — GRAMMY AWARDS / The Recording Academy, 2019
It stands alone. Nowhere else does cultural recognition in human rights carry the institutional authority of the United Nations.
The Platform
High Note Global operates across two artistic pillars — Music and Cinema — each a distinct vehicle for the same conviction: that culture, when made with courage, can shape the world.
MUSIC
The High Note Global Prize honors musicians whose body of work has advanced human dignity — not as a single moment, but as a sustained force at scale. Past laureates include Cyndi Lauper, John Legend, and Aryana Sayeed. In 2027, the Prize expands to include the inaugural High Note Global Legacy Prize, which will be awarded posthumously to a music icon who used their platform to promote social justice.
High Note Concerts are global cultural activations aligned with the Prize and the causes it advances. Since 2023, High Note 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.
CINEMA
High Note Human Rights Cinema
launches January 2027 in Boulder, Colorado, extending the platform into 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 for the
High Note Global Prize
in Cinema, awarded annually in three categories:
Best Feature Film, Best Short Documentary, and
Best Short Narrative Film.
