THERE are roughly 4600 miles between Caracas and Stirling, but this week the two cities suddenly seem closer together.

This time last year, The Herald was in Caracas, the chaotic, sprawling, steaming hot capital of Venezuela, reporting on a remarkable musical and social system which, after 30 years in operation, has taught more than 400,000 children the disciplines and joy of classical music, and established more than 130 orchestras in that economically divided country.

Officially that system, which focuses on children from the slums, or barrios, of Venezuela, is snappily titled the Fundacion del Estado para el Sistema Nacional de las Orquestas y Coros Juveniles e Infantiles de Venezuela, or FESNOJIV, but it is more often just called El Sistema, and is known throughout the musical world for its revelatory work.

Indeed, Sir Simon Rattle, the famed British conductor, says El Sistema is the most important thing happening in the musical world today.

Claudio Abbado, Zubin Mehta, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti have all visited Venezuela and were fervent supporters, and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport is spending £2m towards three El Sistema-inspired pilot projects south of the border.

The system's founder, the conductor and economist Jose Antonio Abreu, is revered in South America, and known as "the maestro". But his achievements are gaining wider currency. Tonight he will be presented with honorary membership of the Royal Philharmonic Society at this year's Royal Philharmonic Society (RPS) Music Awards in London.

But in the UK, it was Scotland that was first in spotting the system's potential in giving hope and inspiration to children from impoverished backgrounds through the power of classical music, in an initiative led by Dr Richard Holloway, the former Bishop of Edinburgh and now chairman of the Scottish Arts Council.

Now, finally, after several years of work, the El Sistema system - intensive, frequent, group-based orchestral instruction from the ages of eight to 18, aided by free instruments, and often free travel to lessons - is undergoing a trial in the Raploch estate in Stirling.

Last week, before they flew out to Caracas to learn from the originators of the scheme, the first six musician teachers of the Raploch experiment - which is to be named the Big Noise - spoke about the inspiration they have drawn from the Venezuelan scheme and how they hope to replicate its success in Scotland.

The six first teachers, whom The Herald met last week before they flew out to Caracas, have wide experience as musicians and teachers.

Helen McVey, a cellist, has worked with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Opera and is to perform at the BBC Proms later this year at the Royal Albert Hall, while Jennifer Nicholson, a violinist, played for 12 years in Italy's Teatro Massimo opera orchestra and has worked with the National Youth Choir of Scotland and the National Youth Orchestra of Scotland.

The only man in the team, Robin Panter, plays the viola and was a member of the European Union Youth Orchestra, and worked as an orchestral freelancer before taking a job with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, while Joelle Fenna has had a varied career as a violinist, music leader, teacher and project manager as well as being the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's current Education Fellow.

Alison Gornall is a freelance double-bassist who has worked with many of the UK's leading orchestras, and is also an experienced music educator, while Aimee Watt has played in the Baltic states, Russia and central Europe, and the entire project in Scotland is being led by Nicola Killean, the former head of Youth Music UK in Scotland.

Their first aim in Raploch is to establish a string orchestra made up of primary 1, 2 and 3 children, and they have already begun some sessions with children from Raploch Primary and Our Lady's Primary on the estate, and will be working with children from Castleview Centre later this year.

Ms Watt said she had heard of El Sistema, but it was not until she saw the incandescent performances of the Simon Bolivar Orchestra - El Sistema's top orchestra, led by its brightest star, the 26-year old conductor Gustavo Dudamel - at the BBC Proms, that she became fascinated with the scheme.

"I saw their performance and just thought: that is amazing. The sheer skill of the kids, the passion with which they played, and how good it would be to have something like that here," she said.

Ms Gornall, who has moved to Scotland from London to work in the Raploch Big Noise, said: "I think we have all played instruments from an early age, and when you are in a youth orchestra, it is such an exciting and stimulating experience; I went to see the Simon Bolivar Orchestra at the Proms and there is so much to be impressed by - an amazing dynamic sound, the fact that they are all friends on stage, as well as coming from these completely challenging backgrounds. I think music can do that anywhere."

Mr Panter added: "Everyone has some kind of musical skill at a very early age - no child is without some kind of musical talent, and they will learn more."

All the musicians said as much as they were excited to work with children, it was the entire community of Raploch - an area once depicted as one of the most socially deprived in Scotland - which is to provide fertile ground for the El Sistema experiment.

"Everyone here is really looking forward to working with the whole community here," Ms Fenna said. "Not only the children, but the parents - getting to know them, and getting them involved, is so important."

Initially, as in Caracas, lessons with the smallest children concentrate on simple tunes and rhythms, often accompanied by parents. Ms Nicholson said not too much musical aptitude was expected early in the system: "Even stopping and starting together is an achievement."

However, the plan is for the orchestra to grow with the children as they move through school, and recruit from new intakes each year, and by the third year the aim is to have introduced all of the instruments of a symphony orchestra - brass, woodwind, strings and percussion. Every child should also have access to an instrument.

John Hendry, a councillor who has represented Raploch since the late 1980s, has said he thinks the project will "fly" in the area.

When the six teachers return from Venezuela, they will start their work in earnest - a summer school for primary 1, 2 and 3 pupils from June 30, and will continue working with the same pupils when the new school term starts in September.

At the summer school, based in Raploch's gleaming new community campus building on its central Drip Road, breakfast will be provided while the children listen to live performances. Then they make music themselves before parents, or carers, are invited in for the last half-hour of the day to see and hear their work.

Dr Holloway, chair of Sistema Scotland, the charity that will run the Big Noise, said: "The experience in Venezuela is that the structure of a symphony orchestra offers the chance for everyone to play their part, be challenged and learn together. It is a core activity which touches the entire community. Everyone is welcomed, accepted and contributes. These orchestras grow children's emotional intelligence, respect, understanding and empathy for one another. Their social skills, confidence, aspiration and drive are developed."

The charity has no official backing from the Scottish Government yet, but has received support and aid from the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, the Scottish Arts Council and Stirling Council.

The system will spread - Sistema Scotland aims to have started three Big Noise orchestra centres in Scotland by 2013, including, it is believed, Aberdeen and either Glasgow or a location in North Lanarkshire.

Mr Panter and all the other teachers are optimistic El Sistema can be transplanted more than 4000 miles from its home. "We have all been attracted to this project because it is long term," he said. "If you learn an instrument from an early age, it does so much for you, for your confidence - the challenge is for them to enjoy the music too."