When George Cataldo turns on the instrumental music on his karaoke system to sing along to the classic Italian song, “That’s Amore,” his face lights up. “I just love singing,” he said. It is obvious that he means it. A tall, slender man, the charming Westport resident also loves to share his talent at local senior centers, assisted living residences and private gigs, performing classics from the ‘50s and ‘60s.

And at age 89, he is having too much fun to even thinking about slowing down. Although he loves music and always played different instruments growing up in New Bedford, it was not until he was 55, he said, that he actually started singing in public. It was at an event in New York City shortly before he retired from a 30-year career with Sears Roebuck that he caught the singing bug, he recalled. “It was a managers’ conference being held at a Japanese restaurant,” he said. “The disc jockey convinced me to try karaoke that night.”