Anne Wiggins Brown (1912-2009) was a soprano who is best known for creating the role of Bess in George Gershwin's folk opera Porgy and Bess and starring in its initial stage run in 1935. Born in Baltimore in 1912, Brown attended Frederick Douglass High School and studied music with W. Llewellyn Wilson. After being denied entry to the Peabody Conservatory of Music because it did not admit African-American students at the time, Brown enrolled at the Juilliard School of Music and earned degrees in 1932 and 1934.

While at Juilliard, Brown learned that Gershwin was working on an opera based on DuBose Heyward's novel Porgy and wanted a part. Her involvement led Gershwin to write more songs for the character of Bess and revise the title of the opera. She would go on to perform the role more than 600 times.

Brown married Thorleif Schjelderup, a Norwegian ski jumper, in 1948 and moved to Oslo, where she spent the rest of her life and continued to perform as a singer. Her autobiography, Sang fra frossen gren, was first published in Norway in 1979 and became a best seller. In 1998, the Peabody Conservatory awarded her the George Peabody Medal for her lifetime of outstanding contributions to music.