Wilhelmenia Fernandez, sometimes billed as Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez, is an American soprano. She was born in Philadelphia in 1949. She appeared in the 1981 film Diva by French director Jean-Jacques Beineix. Fernandez's early training was at the Philadelphia Academy of Vocal Arts, followed by a scholarship at the Juilliard School of Music in New York City. Her operatic debut was as Bess in Porgy and Bess, for Houston Grand Opera, a production