Tony Award Winner B.D. Wong joins the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra to narrate Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait on an all-American program that celebrates the sixteenth president's 201st birthday. Led by guest conductor Matthew Oberstein, the program includes Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue with pianist Michael Boriskin, Copland's Appalachian Spring, and Gould's American Salute. The concert is Friday, February 12 at 8 PM, at Peter Norton Symphony Space.
B.D. Wong can currently be seen on "Law and Order: SVU" as Dr. George Huang. Wong gained notice as a cast regular on the critically acclaimed series "Oz," playing the resilient prison priest, Father Ray, for the show's five-season run. Other television credits include a starring role in "All-American Girl," "And the Band Played On," "Welcome to New York," "Chicago Hope," "The X-Files," "Bless This House," "Shannon's Deal" and the Hallmark miniseries "Marco Polo."
Wong has also appeared in more than 20 feature films, including Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park," and "The Freshman" opposite Marlon Brando and Matthew Broderick. Wong can also be heard as the voice of Shang in the Disney animated film "Mulan."
Wong is the only actor ever to have received all five major New York theater awards for a single role. For his performance in "M. Butterfly," his Broadway debut, he received the Tony Award, the Drama Desk Award, the Outer Critics Circle Award, the Theater World Award, and the Clarence Derwent Award. Additional New York theater credits include "The Tempest," "A Language of Their Own," "As Thousands Cheer," the Broadway musical revival of "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown," in a critically acclaimed performance as Linus, and the Roundabout Theatre's production of Stephen Sondheim's "Pacific Overtures," for which he received a Drama League nomination for distinguished performance.
Wong is the author of "Following Foo: (the electronic adventures of the Chestnut Man)" (Harper Entertainment), which chronicles his son, Jackson's, struggle for life after he was born 11 weeks premature.
Called "a symbiosis of players and audience..." by The New York Times, the New Amsterdam Symphony Orchestra ("NASO") was founded in 1976, and has grown to include over 75 players who are a combination of professional, semi-professional and accomplished avocational players. NASO's primary goal is to seek out and showcase outstanding musical talent and provide them with the much-coveted opportunity to perform with a symphony orchestra in New York City. Concerts have been presented at Alice Tully Hall, Symphony Space, Fordham at Lincoln Center, Riverside Church, and The Cathedral of St. John the Divine.
Tickets, priced at $18 ($12 for seniors/students), may be purchased by phone at (212) 864-5400, online at www.symphonyspace.org, or in person at the Symphony Space box office. Peter Norton Symphony Space is located at 2537 Broadway at 95th Street in New York City.
