PREVIEW : Music Instructor Trades in Flash for Substance

In 1967, Violeta Quintero played a fairy godmother on the television show “Club Quindido,” Mexico’s version of “The Mickey Mouse Club.” Although she was only 13 at the time, Quintero was already a seasoned singer and instrumentalist who had recorded several albums of traditional Mexican music and had toured Latin and North America.

“But actually, I was very lonely. I had no friends. All I ever did was perform,” said Quintero, now a Mission Hills resident, who began playing the mandolin when she was 4. “But I’m a religious person. I put myself in God’s hands. I asked to have a life with something more meaningful inside , not just a flashy existence.”

Quintero’s prayers were answered. After arriving in the United States, she earned a teaching credential from Cal State Northridge. Today, she is the music instructor for senior citizens at centers throughout Pacoima, San Fernando and Mission Hills. She also conducts Today’s Golden Dreams, a group of two dozen seniors who perform traditional Mexican music at community events. On Aug. 18, the 16-year-old instrumental ensemble brought home a first-place trophy for the Pacoima Senior Center at the 1990 Los Angeles Citywide Senior Talent Contest at Fairfax High School, Quintero said.

On Sunday, Quintero will lead Today’s Golden Dreams and will also perform with her husband, Greg McHenry, in “The Music of Mexico,” a benefit concert for the Andres Pico Adobe in Mission Hills. The performance, which begins at 4:30 p.m. at the adobe, will feature a variety of traditional Mexican music--polkas, corridos, canciones rancheras, waltzes, romantic and the harp style characteristic of the Veracruz region.

“Violeta brings so much energy to her group. And it gives them pride--pride in their heritage, in their community, and most important, themselves,” said James Acevedo, concert chairman and board member of the San Fernando Valley Historical Society. Acevedo said that the adobe, built in 1834, is scheduled to be reinforced by the city of Los Angeles sometime next year to prevent damage from earthquakes.

“It’s really a myth that seniors cannot learn,” Quintero said about her musical group with members from their mid-60s to 80s. “Some never picked up an instrument in their lives. Yet they dreamed to learn. So we practice hard. It takes a great deal of discipline.”

Although Today’s Golden Dreams is ethnically mixed, the majority of the members are Latino, Acevedo said.

“So this music is very important,” he said. “But just like the history of the adobe, it is something that should be celebrated and recognized by Anglos and Latinos alike.”

“The Music of Mexico,” featuring Today’s Golden Dreams under the direction of Violeta Quintero, 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the Andres Pico Adobe , 10940 Sepulveda Blvd., Mission Hills. Admission is free, but proceeds from concession items will benefit the adobe’s earthquake restoration. Call (818) 365-7810.