Alexander University's Professional Orchestration Writing for Strings™ Level 1 online course is open for registration with an April 21 start date. Only six students will be accepted. Registration ends Sunday April 20. This six-week course is taught by composer/educator Stephen Hill (pictured).

Writing for Strings is a hands-on course taught by having students write original two-minute pieces and having them played by a musician. The piece is then checked for playability with input on how to improve their writing. The student's work is based on a piece of literature. If a student wants to do film, TV or game composing, then the piece is approached like a scene from a movie. If the student wants to do concert scoring, then the piece of literature becomes the "inspiration" for the new musical composition. In Writing for Strings, the student writes four two-minute compositions, one each for solo violin, viola, cello and bass.

Students are also required to do MIDI mock-ups, an electronic recording of their piece using sample libraries from Vienna Symphonic Library.

For registration information, visit www.truespec.com/professional-orchestration-writing-strings-p-922.html.