Fernandez, Wilhelmina
Fernandez, Wilhelmina
Fernandez, Wilhelmina, black American soprano; b. Philadelphia, Jan. 5, 1949. Following training in Philadelphia (1969–73), she completed her studies at the Juilliard School in N.Y. She made her debut as Gershwin’s Bess at the Houston Grand Opéra in 1977, and then toured the U.S. and Europe in that role. After appearing as Musetta at the Paris Opera in 1979, she sang with the N.Y. City Opera, and in Boston, Toulouse, Strasbourg, and Liège. She sang Bess at the Theater des Westens in Berlin in 1988, and then Aida in Bonn in 1989. In 1991 she scored a great success as Carmen Jones in London. During the 1994–95 season, she sang Aida at the Deutsche Oper in Berlin. She also appeared widely as a concert artist and recitalist. Among her other roles were Purcell’s Dido, Mozart’s Countess, Donna Anna, Marguerite, and Luisa Miller.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire