‘Witness to Darfur’ to bring awareness to Sanders Theatre

The Boston Landmarks Orchestra and Harvard Extension School will co-present “Witness to Darfur,” a unique evening of dialogue, film, and music, in Sanders Theatre on Oct. 1 at 8 p.m. The two-hour program aims to draw attention to the tragic events in Sudan, while acknowledging the work of organizations and individuals who are committed to putting an end to the genocide.

Liz Walker, WBZ-TV host and producer of the documentary “A Glory from the God,” and Samantha Power, the Anna Lindh Professor of Practice of Global Leadership and Public Policy at the Kennedy School of Government (KSG), will join Swanee Hunt, director of the Women and Public Policy Program at KSG, in the first hour of the program, which will feature film and dialogue.

“The Witness Cantata,” a work for chorus, orchestra, and soloists composed by Hunt, will make up the second half of the program. The New World Chorale and the Boston Landmarks Orchestra will perform the piece, which is structured around seven passages gleaned from Gospel accounts of Jesus on the cross. Those brief Scriptures are interpreted through texts of such poets as Anna Akhmatova, William Blake, and Elie Wiesel.

The event is free and open to the public (seating is first-come, first-served). Other co-sponsors of the event include the Massachusetts Coalition to Save Darfur and Physicians for Human Rights.