PLANTING IN AIR BY Darse Elman and Roxanne Merryfield.

Planting in Air is an internal portrait of a Japanese farmer woman whose world perception is sculpted and controlled by sound, movement and visuals.

Darse Elman - director, choreography. Peggy Howe - assistant director. Roxanne Merryfield - sound design. Judith Ogus - set design. Wendy Gilmore - lighting design. Sarah Willner - light board operator. Jeff Evans - construction. Harvey Stein - Title and poem "Planting in Air".

PERFORMERS: Darse Elman - Yakato. Judith Ogus - Songa. Ensemble: Chrystene Ells, Pamela Flash, Peggy Howe, Tyche Hendricks, Heather Mildvan. MUSIC: Roxanne Merryfield - tape, percussion. Shido - bass. Masumi, Poe and Kyonja Park, Mosh Komori - pre-taped vocals and taiko. Wendy Gilmore - taped shakuhachi.

DARSE ELMAN has presented her performance works in New York, Rhode Island, Washington D.C. and San Francisco, and has worked with the Meredith Monk Company, Susan Rethorst, Harvey Stein and others. She is presently training in the Alexander technique.

ROXANNE MERRYFIELD is a sound designer, composer and performer for radio, theatre, and film in Los Angeles and San Francisco. She has imagineered audio scenes for Antenna Theater, Mouth of the Wolf Productions, USC film school, Theatre West - L.A., KPFA KALX, KJAZ, and her own productions at The Lab and the New Performance Gallery.

Special Thanks: Kevin Cloud, The Lab, Michele Linfante, Ogie Yocha, Teena Rosen, Kim Searcy, Sarah Willner, for slurping noodles, Wendy Gilmore, Cynthia Wilson and ZAOH. THE PET STOP. birds. fish. supplies. 1599a haight. San Francisco. 94117. 415.621.2677.

VOICES/SF PRESENTS "KNOCK ON WOOD" 2 WORKS OF TEXT-SOUND OPERA

COMPOSED BY ROXANNE MERRYFIELD. Fri and Sat, May 2 and May 3, [1985] 8:30 PM New Performance Gallery, 3153 17th St, SF.

CUTTING EDGES. Program 1: Welcome to Laughland Program 2: Real People Program 3: An Update Program 4: Normal Day Breaks

Performers: Anastasia Johnson-Soprano, Kelsey Waddell-Tenor. Steve Jensen, Roxanne Merryfield, Pinky. Taped Composition: Roxanne Merryfield. Lighting Design: Timothy Welch. Choreography: Steve Jensen, Roxanne Merryfield. Set Design: John Aragon. masks: Knuti Van Hoven. Images: Paul Cartier. Makeup/Hair: Ron Aragon. Sound Mixage: Jay Cloidt. Interviewees: Shelly Fern Diamond, Stelarc, Susan Stone.

KNOCK ON WOOD (the opera) I. THE CAVE root to the escape II. THE SURVIVAL battling the powers III. MUNDANE LIVING customs of an (un)civilized race. 7 days, 7 nights. IV. TRAVEL lost inside the rhythm V. THE BATTLE/COMMUNICATION VI. RETURN TO THE CAVE root to the rhythm

Performers: Darse Elman, Pamela Flash, Roxanne Merryfield, Anastasia Johnson - Soprano, Michael Shahani-Baritone, Kelsey Waddell-Tenor, Rick Sanford-Percussion. Taped Composition: Roxanne Merryfield. "Travel" composed by Kurt Wortman with Russel Walder on oboe. text by Roxanne Merryfield. Jumprope Songs recorded by Barney Jones. Multi Image: Paul Cartier, Lighting Design: Timothy Welch, Roxanne Merryfield. Makeup/Hair: Ron Aragon, Artistic Consultant: Ann Marie Meisner, Stage Manager: Joe Tam, John Collins, Video Taping: Ari Nadel and PCTV.

Soundtrack Performers for KNOCK ON WOOD (the opera)-- Pamela Flash: banjo, marimba, voice. Julia Barello: voice Flash (Michael) Hopkins: reading. Anastasia Johnson: voice, Michael Shahani: voice, Kelsey Waddell: voice. Many Thanks to those who interviewed and those who helped record the taped composition--Paul Carlson, Helen Frank, Larry Harvey, Tristan Harvey, Flash (Michael) Hopkins, Dan Miller, Tom (Bean) Richardson. Publicity: Pamela Flash, Dorothy Hennings, Charlene Smith Special thanks to: David Ahlstrom, Mark Saccomano, Rose Tobin, Sarah Willner, Carley Wiegand, SF Services, Donna lane, Valerie Clifford (and her dad)

The VOICES/SF Opera Ensemble was created as a non-profit organization in 1982 to:

1) foster the development in the community of an appreciation for American opera and musical theatre; 2)promote the advancement of young musical artists who specialize in American opera and music theatre; and 3) advance the work of the composers and writers (librettists) of American opera. an important emphasis of VOICES/SF is 4) the development of opera and musical theatre works for and with children and their presentation to family audiences and in schools.

The VOICES/SF Board of directors is proud to have appointed Roxanne Merryfield as our Composer-in-Residence for 1985-86. Tonight's work is the result of her collaboration with our singers and staff members.

KNOCK ON WOOD: BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

JOHN ARAGON (set design C.E.) is a graphic "foamcore" designer for Tower Records, recently moved from Arizona having worked as a steel welder. his recent work can be seen at SF's Hard Rock Cafe.

PAUL CARTIER (multi-image) shoots and designs for multi-image productions and portraits. he has designed "soundtracks," walkman tours, for the Monterey area through Candid Productions.

JAY CLOIDT (sound mixage) recording artist (Catholic Ears Music, BMI), has engineered sound for Bay Area and touring artists. He is currently engineering for The Paul Dresher Ensemble and performs his own compositions in the Bay Area.

DARSE ELMAN (performer K.O.W.) is a dancer and performance artist who recently moved from New York City to study at the Alexander Teacher Training Institute of SF. She has presented her work in New York, Washington, D.C., S.F. Darse has performed with Mia Borgatta, Andrea Goodman (Meredith Monk's Co.), Sin Cha Hong, Susan Rethorst, and others.

PAMELA FLASH (musician, performer K.O.W.) After performing a number of pieces and theater works in her garage and on small platforms between the incoming and outgoing railroad tracks in Providence, Ri, Pamela rode her bicycle to the West. Arriving in SF, she has spent a lot of time promoting the work of other performers, inventing small board games and riding an orange one-speed late at night.

STEVE JENSEN: (performer C.E.) has performed with numerous dance companies in both the Chicago and Phoenix areas. It was not until moving to SF five years ago that he was able to pursue his true heart's ambition, computer programming. You can catch Steve's act in the Financial District, Mondays through Fridays, 8:30-5:00.

ANASTASIA JOHNSON (soprano) first performed with VOICES/SF as the "Mirror Lady" in Argento's Postcard from Morocco. She is a graduate of SFSU and has performed in operas with Teatre Artists of Marin, Cabrillo College, and VOICES/SF.

ROXANNE MERRYFIELD (composer, director) is a text-sound composer, sound designer and performer for radio, theatre, and film. She is known in the Bay Area through her KPFA-FM program, Marginal Music, a broadcast of experimental music and sound sculptures. KNOCK ON WOOD marks her third compositional work for theatre in the Bay Area.

RICK SANFORD (percussionist K.O.W.) can be heard on various Swartout, Rough Trade, and Coronet recordings. His recent soundtracks include Dale Hoyt's The Complete Anne Frank and A Day in the Life by Tony Labat. Rick currently freelances in SF and is known for his handmade, tuned gongs.

MICHAEL SHAHANI (baritone K.O.W.) began his performing career as a student at the University of Nebraska in productions of Carousel, La Traviata, and HMS PINAFORE. Since coming to the Bay Area, he has given solo recitals, appeared in traditional and avant-garde operatic productions. Shahani is currently Associate Conductor and Instructor for the Bay Area Youth Opera.

KELSEY WADDELL (tenor) has worked with The Opera Workshop of UCLA, the Opera Theater of Sonoma State University and the Department of Music at Mills College. He is currently working with composer, Dr. David Ahlstrom, for the Bay Area Youth Opera, (BAYO), staging Aesop's Fables and singing roles in The Song of the Golden Fish.

TIMOTHY WELCH (lighting) designs lighting and stage sets through his company, O.D. Productions. He is Technical Director for SF Rep's Expressions '86 at the Victoria Theatre, lighting designer for the Music Hall's musical Rap Master Ronnie, and has collaborated in several previous productions with Roxanne Merryfield.