Tierney Crone receives statewide recognition, prepares for WVHS production of ‘Pippin'

Warwick - Warwick teen Tierney Crone has recently added a perfect score of 100 at the state-wide NYSSMA vocal competition to the ever growing list of important accolades the young singer has received in a variety of prestigious music competitions in our area and beyond. Crone, a 17-year-old senior at Warwick Valley High School, found her love of singing and music early in life and she has never looked back since the moment she decided that this would be her career. ”Ten years from now, I see myself onstage somewhere, with a band behind me, microphone in my hand, hopefully with my Dad (music educator and conductor David Crone) at the piano,” Crone said. “I want to be a successful singer.” Crone study voice with Barbara Welch in Warwick since she was 10. “I’ve been singing forever,” said Crone, whose musical family includes her talented dad, her mother Lucia, her sister Emma and her brothers Brendan and Connor, all of whom sing and play instruments. Crone has sung in a wide variety of school and community-based choral groups since elementary school, including the renowned Warwick Valley High School Meistersingers, honing her musicianship and gaining valuable performance experience along the way. Tierney’s performed as chorister or featured soloist over several years with New Jersey’s Pro Arte Chorale, Vernon (N.J.) Chorale, Christ Church in Warwick and Warwick Summer Arts Festival. Crone won a coveted place in the N.Y.S. All-State Choir this past year, where she performed in Rochester. She also performed as a member of Pro-Arte Chorale at Carnegie Hall in the 2007 season. She has participated in All-County Choir for the last eight years and Crone has been featured as National Anthem soloist, kicking off the Warwick Lions Club 5K race on Memorial Day 2006 and 2007. In addition to her score at the NYSSMA competition, Crone’s received “Best Soloist Award 2007” at Warwick Valley Schools’ “Music in the Parks” performances at Six Flags; an OCMEA $1,500 Vocal Scholarship and a Pro Arte Chorale $500 award. Her musical experiences early in life have seasoned Crone to the stringent requirements of a career in singing. ”I think that singing is more difficult than pursuing a career in band or orchestral instruments because your instrument is your own voice, “ she said. “You need to really take care of your instrument or it’s gone. “But singing,” Crone added, “is also more fascinating because you get to express yourself more personally than with any other instrument. I have never been so passionate about anything in my life and I am convinced that nerves before a performance are essential, because if you do not have them, your performance lacks that excitement and passion. It might be a performance, but it won’t be a good performance.” Crone’s vocal idols include jazz greats Nancy LaMott, Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Tierney Sutton and Frank Sinatra. She hopes to follow their examples in college next year to a career in jazz singing. She wants to work in the field of therapeutic teaching once she has established her singing career. In March, Crone will perform the leading role of Cathryn in the upcoming Warwick Valley Senior High School Drama Club production of the Broadway musical “Pippin’.” If you go Performances of the Warwick Valley Senior High School Drama Club production of the Broadway musical “Pippin’” are Friday, March 14, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, March 15, at 1 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets may be reserved by calling 987 - 3050.