Renowned Soprano Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez Smith, known for her captivating performances in the 1981 French film 'Diva' and her illustrious operatic career across the United States and Europe, passed away at the age of 75. Fernandez Smith, who had been residing in Lexington, Kentucky after years spent in her native Philadelphia, succumbed to cancer on February 2 at her home, according to her daughter, Sheena Maria Fernandez.
A funeral service was held on Friday at a church in Lexington to bid farewell to Fernandez Smith, often billed as Wilhelmenia Wiggins Fernandez. She gained worldwide recognition by opening the film 'Diva,' directed by Jean-Jacques Beineix, dressed in a white gown and delivering a captivating rendition of the aria 'Ebben? Ne andrò lontana' from the opera 'La Wally.' This aria became the cornerstone of her 25-year opera career, which took her to prestigious opera houses and made her the focal point of many grand events.
