Who is Trans-Siberian Orchestra?

Trans-Siberian Orchestra is a Progressive Metal musical act from USA, formed in 1993

Trans-Siberian Orchestra

BIOGRAPHY

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Trans-Siberian Orchestra (1993-present): a Progressive Metal band from New York, New York, USA.

rans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) was formed in 1993 by guitarist Paul O'Neill (R.I.P. 2017) along with keyboardist Robert Kinkel and vocalist, piano player Jon Oliva of Savatage, with O'Neill and Kinkel writing a large portion of the music.

The act's debut would be with the Christmas Eve - Sarajevo 12/24 EP in 1996 featuring the aforementioned founding members along with Johnny Lee Middleton (bass), Jeff Plate (drums), Chris Caffery (guitars) and Al Pitrelli (guitars), followed by Christmas Eve and Other Stories (1996), The Christmas Attic (1998), the Joy to the Radio World EP (1999), Beethoven's Last Night (2000) and The Ultimate Christmas Gift (EP; 2003).

Trans-Siberian Orchestra would live up to their name with the release of The Lost Christmas Eve (2004) whereby the membership would explode to include a membership[ worthy of an orchestra with Robert Kinkel (piano/keyboards/vocals (choirs)), Jon Oliva (piano/keyboards/vocals (choirs)), Al Pitrelli (guitars/keyboards), Paul O'Neill (R.I.P. 2017; guitars (rhythm)), Chris Caffery (guitars), Tristan Avakian (guitars), Angus Clark (guitars), Alex Skolnick (guitars), Johnny Lee Middleton (bass), Jeff Allegue (bass), Jane Mangini (piano), Carmine Giglio (keyboards), Mee Eun Kim (keyboards), Jeff Plate (drums), John O'Reilly (drums), Takanori Niida (drums), John Clark (all horns), Amy Helm (whistle), Dave Wittman (drums/guitars/bass) and David Zablidowsky (R.I.P. 2017; bass).

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After a self-titled EP in 2007, the orchestra was at it again adding more members in the form of Jay Pierce (vocals: tracks 2, 6), Tim Hockenberry (vocals: tracks 3, 23), Jeff Scott Soto (vocals: tracks 5, 8, 11, 15, 20), Rob Evan (vocals: tracks 13, 16)/vocals (backing), Jennifer Cella (vocals: tracks 18, 19)/vocals (backing), Alexa Goddard (vocals: track 22/vocals (backing), Valentina Porter (vocals: track 22/vocals (backing), Caitlin Moe (strings), Alison Zlotow (strings), Lowell Adams (strings), Karen Dumke (strings), Lei Liu (strings), Chizuko Matsusaka (strings), Sarah Shellman (strings), Derek Wieland (keyboards), Anna Phoebe (strings), Shih-Yi Chiang (keyboards), Roddy Chong (violin/strings), Bryan Hicks (vocals: track 22), Luci Butler (keyboards/vocals (backing)) and Chris Altenhoff (bass) for Night Castle (2009).

Vitalij Kuprij (R.I.P. 2024; piano: tracks 1, 5) and Joel Hoekstra (guitars) were the new members of note for the Dreams of Fireflies (on a Christmas Night) EP (2015).

Letters from the Labyrinth (2015) saw the membership shift again to feature Russell Allen (vocals (lead: track 9), Adrienne Warren (vocals (lead: track 11)/vocals (backing: track 1)), Asha Mevlana (violin (electric)/strings), Phillip Brandon (vocals (backing: track 1)), April Berry (vocals (backing: track 1)) and Andrew Ross (vocals (backing: tracks 1, 13)).

Footnote: Due to the fact that TSO have included all members of the last few Savatage lineups (including both Jon Oliva and Zak Stevens), the band has been simply been referred to by fans and critics alike as either a successor, continuation or (re)incarnation of Savatage despite it being a band in its own right. Oh and BTW: What does TSO have to do with Siberia? Absolutely nothing other than to suggest it is a spoof on 'Trans-Siberian Railway' which crosses the entirety of Russia.

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