Going North

* Poet--Pulitzer Prize-winning poet W.S. Merwin will read from his work Friday at 7:30 p.m. at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History’s Fleischmann Auditorium. Merwin’s career as a poet, translator and environmental activist spans five decades. His book of poems, “The Carrier of Ladders,” was awarded the Pulitzer in 1970. The event is being presented in part by UC Santa Barbara’s Arts & Lectures program. The museum is at 2559 Puesta del Sol Road, Santa Barbara. $15. 893-3535.

* Voices--The Santa Barbara Master Chorale, under the direction of Phillip McLendon, will give two performances at First Presbyterian Church, 21 E. Constance Ave., Santa Barbara. Saturday, 8 p.m.; Sunday, 3 p.m. Program: Bach’s “Christ lag in Todesbanden” and Anton Bruckner’s mass in F minor. $15 general, $12 senior citizens and students. 967-8287.

* Soprano--The Community Arts Music Assn. will present opera diva Jessye Norman on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the Arlington Theatre, 1317 State St., Santa Barbara. Norman will be joined by pianist Mark Markham for a program of songs by Schubert, Strauss and Poulenc. $35-$75. 963-4408.

* Anthropology--Christine Conlee, a faculty fellow in UC Santa Barbara’s department of anthropology, will give an illustrated lecture on the archeology of the Nasca region of Peru on Monday at 7:30 p.m. at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History. The region is famous for the Nasca culture, which developed from AD 1 to 750 and produced pottery and drawings in the desert known as Nasca Lines. The culture died out between AD 750 and 1000, when the Wari empire conquered the region. Free. The museum is at 2559 Puesta del Sol Road, Santa Barbara. 682-4711.