In 1987 he created a guitar program at the Florida International University where he served as a professor for eleven years.

He applied as a guitar major only to discover, when he arrived, that there was no guitar program at the university!

In 2010, Starobin was asked to start a guitar program at Curtis Institute.

Starobin was joined by guitarist Jason Vieaux to create the school's first guitar program.

The guitar program is the only one in Wake County Public School System.

The guitar program plays music from the Baroque and Renaissance eras.

The guitar program also holds an annual concert.

The guitar program is the largest program of its type in the state.

It is also the only public high school to offer a guitar program in the Northwest, led by Jerry King.

Ellis majored in music, but because they did not yet have a guitar program at that time, he studied the string bass.