Bringing Back the Memory : Senior citizens in Mellow Tones perform at retirement homes and civic centers in the San Fernando Valley.

Just like the manager of a hot rock group, Michael Schiro, director of the Mellow Tones chorus, frantically handed out business cards to eager fans after a concert. During a performance last month at the Sherman Oaks / Van Nuys Senior Center, the group received several standing ovations from an audience of about 250 of their peers.

Senior citizens, most of whom have had extensive musical experience, make up the Mellow Tones. The chorus members gather Tuesday afternoons at the Bernardi Multi-Purpose Center for Senior Citizens in Van Nuys to rehearse their craft and find new meaning in their own lives while preparing to share their music--often with other senior citizens.

Schiro, 73, a retired mechanical engineer, and his wife, Jennie, 72, a homemaker, helped found the group in 1987. For them, it was a place to put to good use the experience they had gained performing for several years in musicals and community theater in Glendale.

The chorus, said Schiro, a baritone, visits retirement homes, senior centers and civic and other groups in the San Fernando Valley to perform. Often, he said, they perform with only a few days notice, since they always have a full repertoire ready.

Schiro said that the group especially enjoys the senior center performances. “It’s very pleasant,” he said. Audience members “come up to us with tears in their eyes.”

He added, “In many cases, their memory is gone, but the music brings the memory back.”

Jennie Schiro said, “It’s very rewarding; I don’t know what we’d do without it.”

The level of musicianship among Mellow Tones members is high.

Francesco Vespia, 74, of Shadow Hills has been a member of the group for four years. A tenor, he said he performed with New York’s Metropolitan Opera in 1949. “I sang the role of Alfredo in “La Traviata,” Vespia said. He added that he also performed in “Brigadoon,” “Carousel” and “Oklahoma” on Broadway in the 1950s.

Truth Davidson, 73, of Sherman Oaks was also a professional singer. A contralto, she performed in the San Francisco area for 27 years, and also in Los Angeles and New York. Davidson said that belonging to the Mellow Tones appeals to her because members share her passion for music. “It’s the one thing we all love.”

But she said it’s not for amateurs. “We want people who can read music. We’re all professionals.”

Another member, Basil Joseph, 59, of Van Nuys, was born in Sri Lanka and performed with a symphony orchestra there, playing violin and viola. A baritone, he also sang with the London Philharmonic Choir in 1978.

“Music has been a part of my life since the age of 9,” Joseph said.

The music of the Mellow Tones, Schiro says, consists primarily of Broadway show tunes, although they sometimes also perform classical pieces and other types of works. Recent performances have included songs from “My Fair Lady,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Showboat” and “Oklahoma.”

Schiro says the group keeps a membership of about 20 singers. For several members, health problems or aging have forced the decision to leave the group.

The highlight of the Mellow Tones’ performance year is their annual Christmas concert at the Bernardi Multi-Purpose Center. This year, it will be on Wednesday and Schiro said they will sing traditional Christmas favorites such as “It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas” and “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas.”

Hugh Geyer, 72, of Sherman Oaks has been the Mellow Tones’ pianist for more than a year and a half. He offered high praise for this “good bunch of people” and for the Schiros, whom he terms “very dedicated artists.”

A commercial real estate broker who retired in 1984, he added that the Mellow Tones help keep him young: “I feel like I’m 50 most of the time.”

WHERE AND WHEN

What: Mellow Tones Christmas concert.

Location: Bernardi Multi-Purpose Center, 6514 Sylmar Ave., Van Nuys.

Hours: 1 p.m. Wednesday.

Price: Free and open to the public.

Call: (818) 780-5871.