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Community Corner

The Whimsical Mil's Trills Hits Bed-Stuy!

Let Amelia Robinson's whimsical sounds take your children on a musical journey!

There's not much sweeter than a room full of cherub-cheeked, doe-eyed toddlers, smiling moms and Amelia Robinson strumming away on her ukulele.

Robinson, a Brooklyn native and Suzuki trained composer, found her niche engaging children in music and instruments a year ago, when she began making up songs for her baby niece. Shortly after, the idea for Mil's Trills was born.

Amelia uses her charming original music to interact with young children, ages 0-4. The kids -- some barely old enough to hold their heads up, some just learning to walk -- wiggle on the carpet, exploring the various drums, maracas and tambourines and adding accompaniment to Amelia's sweet vocals.

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Ranging from songs about bubble baths and elephants, to her stand out opening and closing song, her music is easy enough for a toddler to understand and adorable enough to melt any parent's heart.

"…I have my fingertips, I have my eyes and my nose and my ears and my mouth and my lips but you have my heart, yes you have my heart," Robinson sings. The tones of her upbeat ukulele mixed with the bright sunshiny room kept kids and adults smiling and swaying on the carpeted floor.

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Amelia brings a special musical guest to accompany her shows, on Thursday, at Studio 515, located at 515 DeKalb Avenue in Bed-Stuy, she brought Lorenzo Wolff and his eye catching Sousaphone that, to the children's delight, made a pretty good impression of an elephant trumpeting.

She took time to show the children different parts of the Sousaphone and had Lorenzo show them the different sounds the instrument was capable of making. Robinson tries to pick the best of the NYC music scene to expose families to great local talent and while also engage them in exotic instruments.

"I pick incredible musicians and these kids get to meet more than 40 different instruments before they're even two years old. And that makes this experience different, something they won't get elsewhere."

"It [Mil's Trills] is a gateway to the NYC music scene for families who don't get to do that," said Robinson.

And her tunes? Not the basic baby sing-a-longs you're used to. "I've been playing this music for a long time, I didn't write it for kids, they just ended up really liking it," said Robinson. "I essentially play the same show for adults, it just translates differently." 

"Her music is super fun, for adults too, it's not babyish, so it's nice for everyone," said Rachel White, a mother at the show.

Robinson takes time to read a music related book, this time, Pecorino's First Concert, with musical accompaniment by Lorenzo. Amelia vividly tells the tale, complete with silly voices, about Pecorino, a small boy who goes to his first concert & proceeds to crawl inside of a tuba and get stuck.

"Music engages children's souls, it brings so much joy," said Robinson, who grew up entrenched in music, learning to play piano at the age of three. "Music is a part of everything we do. There's music theory in the way we speak, the inflection of our voices. I think music communicates with kids in a way language doesn't," said Lorenzo. 

"I believe any exposure to music is great; we love music and instruments. As a mom, it's also great to get out of the house," said Lynnise Pantin, as she watches her son tap on a drum.

"She's so interactive with the kids and her music is really special. Some people can't travel or spend lots of money on music programs, so this is a really great, inexpensive, local way to get it," said Sue Harris, who brought her granddaughter to the show.

"We don't get a lot of these types of activities over here for kids, it's great," said White.

Mil's Trills will be performing at Studio 515 once a month; the next show is on November 3, at 10:30am, with a donation of $15. For more information visit their website.

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