Roundup: TV time for IRT, Symphonic Choir, and Eiteljorg, more

—The Indianapolis Symphonic Choir goes coast to coast for the first time with a live broadcast of its annual “Festival of Carols” holiday concert. Featuring Grammy-winner Sylvia McNair, the one-hour television special will be available to public television stations around the country for airing throughout the month. More than 40 stations—including outlets in Los Angeles, New York City, and Washington D.C.—having taken on the program, which can be see locally on WFYI Dec. 21 and 24.

—Also hitting the airwaves, “Native Art Now!,” a documentary collaboration between the Eiteljorg Museum and WFYI, airs Dec. 14-16. And 2016’s Indiana Repertory Theatre’s production of “Finding Home: Indiana at 200” is set to land a wider audience via the small screen. On Dec. 11, WFYI will broadcast the show, taped from the stage, which features the work of Indiana writers, poets, journalists and historians.

—Conner Prairie is building a new Makesmith Workshop in its welcome center. The 400 square-foot permanent exhibit, opening Jan. 11, will feature staff-guided projects allowing guests to get hands on with, for many, unfamiliar tools and materials.

—Music for All, the Indianapolis-based organization that runs Bands of America, Orchestra America, and more, has a new Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Jeremy L. Earnhart will be overseeing the company’s programming and more than 30 events run by its 30 full- and part-time staff. Earnhart, a member of the Music for All board, was director of fine arts for the Arlington (Texas) Independent School District.  

—Lisa Brooks, a professor of violin and a Butler faculty member since 1994, has been named dead of the university’s Jordan College of the Arts. She has been interim dean since June. In the time, she has replaced the four-year-old Butler ArtsFest with more student-centered programs that lead to public performances.