A MELLOW EVENING OF MUSIC FOR UNDER-5 SET

“I don’t want a front-row seat--it might be too loud.” One parent, waiting in line at Emerson Junior High School Auditorium recently, with toddlers in tow, had reservations concerning the trio about to perform.

She needn’t have worried. Here from Canada on a performance and workshop tour, Sharon, Lois and Bram have been entertaining young children for years. Their sound is warm and mellow, a mix of old nursery favorites, playground chants, lullabies and folk music from all over the world. Social commentary is not on the program.

About 700 of the mostly under-5 set and their parents were in attendance. Youngsters eagerly pretended to dig and mash peanuts to make peanut butter and sang along with and acted out “The Eensie, Weensie Spider” and “Comin’ Round the Mountain” with equal enthusiasm.

Sharon Hampson, Lois Lilienstein and Bram Morrison have been working and recording together since 1978. (Several appearances on “Sesame Street” have helped familiarize the group to American children.) They offer a non-gimmicky, straightforward presentation, with Bram playing acoustic guitar and Lois accompanying on piano at times.

They respect their audience and expect that respect to be returned. At one point when a baby’s crying threatened to continue indefinitely, Lois sent a decidedly stern gaze in the parents’ direction. Before the show it had been nicely requested that discomposed children be taken out and walked around a bit until equilibrium was restored. Audience exits and entrances didn’t bother the trio, who obviously found the many diaper changes and trips to the water fountain understandable.

The one-day concert, sponsored by the Children’s Book and Music Center in Santa Monica, lasted a little more than an hour, a bit long for the youngest children.