Prior to Night Castle, only TSO’s third studio album, Beethoven’s Last Night, did not focus on the holidays. (Does anyone else see a “Night” theme here?) The other studio albums include 1996’s Christmas Eve and Other Stories, 1998’s The Christmas Attic and 2004’s The Lost Christmas Eve.

TSO also spent Spring 2010 playing Beethoven’s Last Night in a new form they called “Rock Theater…a hybrid of a rock concert and theater.”

Now, TSO is back in the studio working on their next studio album before they have to pack up and head out on their winter tour. Currently, the tour dates are still being finalized, but Trans-Siberian Orchestra tickets will be available shortly!

The ensemble will head out Sunday, November 1st, and will travel straight through, normally with two shows per day, through their last show on January 3, 2010.

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra always wows with traditional holiday performances such as “Carol of the Bells,” “Wizards in Winter” and “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24.” The orchestra, combined with a massive rock component, is something you won’t want to miss this Christmas.

The tour will kick off in Council Bluffs, IA on November 1, 2009. It will then travel through the Northern Midwest and into Canada, before heading westward and then returning to the Midwest. The tour will finish up on January 3rd in Columbus, OH.

The musical outfit is known for its special bland of progressive rock and electronica, set upon classical sounds of holiday music – most famously ‘Carol of the Bells,” “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24” and “Wizards in Winter.”