Based on a true story about Peregrine Falcons and humans living at the intersection of wild and urban habitats, "Flight Lessons" is a two-act, six-character, 17-song folk opera exploring themes of home, adaptation, recovery and intra and interspecies relationships in an urban environment. The narrative-in-song follows an urban wildlife biologist (“Lenny”), who monitors the lives of a breeding pair of once-endangered Peregrine Falcons (“Haya” and her mate “Hiko) who nest on a bridge between two cities, and how their lives intersect with each other and those of the other human (“Daniel”, a subsistence fisherman), and falcon inhabitants (“Evvie,” a floater falcon) of the neighborhood after Haya is shot by a pigeon fancier (“Hank”). When Haya goes into a long-term rehabilitation center, Hiko returns to the nest territory and eventually chooses a new mate in Evvie.

Drawing on the author/composer Deborah Crooks's studies of natural history and experiences with raptor conservation, the story both celebrates the wonder of the avian world while highlighting the threats to its existence.

Meets at the South Bay Community Center, 2180 Palisades Ave, Los Osos. Doors open at 1:30pm.