Anne Wiggins Brown, 1912-2009
“I wanted a life where I could sing and be with other people who made music.”
At-a-glance
Though cited in some cases as having been born in 1915, African-American soprano Anne Wiggins Brown herself confirmed that she was born in the fall of 1912. She was one of four daughters born to Mary Wiggins and Harry F. Brown in Old West Baltimore on Presstman Street, just blocks away from the Arch Social Club.
A Long Line of Musicians
Anne was named after her paternal grandmother, Annie E. Brown, who traveled the Southeast as a singer and Evangelist, spreading the word of the Gospel. Anne’s maternal grandfather, William Henry Wiggins was a lyric tenor, and her mother, Mary, was a musician in her own right. Mary studied piano and voice in New York, later becoming Anne’s first voice teacher.
Living in Segregated Baltimore
In 1911, J. Barry Mahool, Mayor of Baltimore at the time, signed into law an ordinance that stated blacks and whites had to have separate schools, churches and “residential blocks”. While the first law of its kind, many states soon followed suit with segregational ordinances of their own. As mandated, African Americans living in Baltimore built their own communities. They opened businesses, churches, schools and offered their skills as doctors and lawyers in aid of their neighbors.
Anne’s father, Dr. Harry F. Brown, the grandson of a slave, exceeded all expectations and became a physician. He became the first medical examiner of the Arch Social Club, of which he was he member. He became the first superintendent of the African American Providence Hospital and spent 38 years as what was then called a "baby specialist" providing care for expecting Black Baltimorean mothers and their children.
Education in Baltimore
In 1924, when Anne was twelve-years old, her parents attempted to enroll her into a Catholic school to further her musical talents; however, she was denied admission because she was black. Anne attended Frederick Douglass High School, and received excellent musical tutelage under the instruction of W. Llewellyn Wilson, who taught many musical proteges from Old West Baltimore.
Anne was again denied entry to an educational institution because of the color of her skin years later when she applied for admission into the Peabody School of Music. She began her college education at Morgan College in Baltimore and continued on at New York’s Teachers’ College at Columbia University.
According to a 1994 article in the Washington Post, the Brown family legend was that Anne Wiggins Brown could sing a perfect musical scale at the age of 9 months old. As most family legends go, there is usually, at the least, a grain of truth which leads to the continuation of the legend living on. At the young age of 15, Anne auditioned for one of the most prestigious music schools in America, Juilliard School of Music, and was subsequently accepted to attend in New York City.
Anne was the first African-American student to attend Julliard and the first to receive the institution’s much sought after Margaret McGill scholarship.
“The memories of my childhood dreams are very vivid. Among them, or perhaps foremost, was the dream to become an ‘actor,’ because for me, to sing was to act with the voice. And I still believe that.”
- Anne Wiggins Brown
Juilliard
Anne began her studies at Juilliard at age 16, studying voice and opera with Lucia Dunham. She had received her undergraduate degree and was in her second year of graduate studies at Julliard when she learned of a new opera that composer George Gershwin was writing.
“There was another black girl at Juilliard at that time and she came one day to me and said “Have you read the news about Porgy? It was not Porgy and Bess at that time, it was just Porgy. I discovered that George Gershwin was searching for singers, both musical comedy and jazz singers, for an opera that he was writing. I wrote him a letter that same evening. And a few days later I had a call from his secretary asking me to come for an audition…”
- Anne Wiggins Brown
George Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess
Composer George Gershwin held auditions at his home for his new opera, Porgy, known today as Porgy and Bess. The name change was inspired by the talent and input of Anne Wiggins Brown.
Gershwin invited Anne to audition for the role of Bess. Anne sang songs composed by Johannes Brahms, Franz Schubert, Jules Massenet, and by Gershwin himself. Gershwin, rather impressed with Anne, asked her to sing a Spiritual for him. She chose “A City Called Heaven” which she sang without piano accompaniment. It is said that after Anne sang, Gershwin was extremely moved. After introducing Anne to the rest of the production team, which included his brother Ira Gershwin and librettist DuBose Heyward, Gershwin would go on to cast Anne in the role of Bess for the world premiere of their new opera.
As he continued to write, Gershwin would have Anne over to sing new music that he had composed for the role of Bess and others in the opera.
“He would telephone me and say, “Come down. I want you to sing something. I’d go down and sing it, and he sang with me, especially the duet roles.”
- Anne Wiggins Brown
Todd Duncan and Anne Brown
Todd Duncan (born Robert Todd Duncan in 1903, Danville, Kentucky) was teaching at Howard University when he was asked to audition for the role of Porgy. He was offered the role on the spot.
Read Todd Duncan’s biography HERE.
He and Anne sang the title roles in the world premiere of Porgy and Bess at the Colonial Theater in Boston, Massachusetts. Ten days later, the show traveled to New York City for a 124 performance run on Broadway at the Alvin Theater.
“The Porgy, Todd Duncan, has a manly and resonant voice, which he uses with eloquent effect. The fresh tone, admirably competent technique, and dramatic delivery of Anne Brown as Bess was a high.”
- NY Times, October 1935
Porgy and Bess Goes on the road
Because of Jim Crow laws, segregation - SEPARATE BUT EQUAL -, African Americans were not allowed to attend shows at certain theaters, and if they did attend they were not allowed to sit in the same sections as white patrons.
In January of 1936, Anne Brown and Todd Duncan joined the entire cast for a national tour of the opera. Their tour included performances at the National Theater in Washington, DC.
Led by Todd Duncan and Anne Brown, the Porgy and Bess cast refused to perform at the National Theater unless their family and friends were allowed to not only attend an evening performance, but also to sit wherever in the theater they chose, including beside white patrons.
Management conceded, and for the entire week-long run of Porgy and Bess, the National Theater was desegregated. However, the theater reinstated their Jim Crow policies of segregation after Porgy and Bess closed.
“If my mother, my father, my friends, if Black people cannot come to hear me sing, then count me out…”
- Anne Wiggins Brown
Photo: (R-L) Anne Brown as Bess, Todd Duncan as Porgy, and J. Rosamond Johnson as Lawyer Frazier. Johnson composed the song commonly referenced as the Negro Nattional Anthem, Lift Every Voice and Sing.
Life After Porgy and Bess
Anne sang around 500 performances of the original production of Porgy and Bess. She also sang in the 1942 revival of the opera, and was cast in several other Broadway productions, including Mamba’s Daughter and Pins and Needles. She was cast to portray herself singing Bess’s music in the movie Rhapsody in Blue.
After singing, mostly internationally during the 1940’s, Anne moved to Norway where she married 1948 Olumpic medalist Thorleif Schielderup. She remained in Norway, becoming a citizen and renowned voice teacher. She stopped singing altogether in the 1950s due to breathing issues caused by asthma.
Righting A Wrong
In 1998, decades after having denied her admittance because of her race, the Peabody Institute bestowed upon Anne Brown the George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America.
Anne Brown lived to be 96 years old. She passed away on March 13, 2009 in Norway. Her legacy lives on.