(RALEIGH, NC) – Marking the band’s 20th consecutive year of touring, Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) today announced its highly-anticipated Winter Tour 2018. TSO’s annual November-December multi-sensory extravaganza, which sells out venues year after year, has cemented the group’s status as a must-attend, multi-generational, holiday tradition. This year’s 20th anniversary tour, a presentation of TSO’s unforgettable “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” featuring founder/composer/lyricist Paul O’Neill’s timeless story of a runaway who finds her way into a mysterious abandoned theater, is set to begin on November 14 and will visit 65 cities across North America, for 100-plus performances, before concluding on December 30. TSO’s Winter Tour 2018 is presented by Hallmark Channel and will play PNC Arena in Raleigh on December 12.

Beginning today, August 20, through August 31, the Winter Tour 2018 will begin its “12 Days of TSO Verified Fan Registration” where all fans can sign up at tso.tmverifiedfan.com/ (powered by Ticketmaster Verified Fan) for exclusive access to the best tickets for the best price before tickets go on-sale to the general public. Presales will begin for TSO fan club members on September 5 at 10 a.m. local time for November 14 through November 30 tour dates; on September 6 at 10 a.m. local time for December 1 through December 16 tour dates; and on September 7th at 10 a.m. local time for December 17 through December 30. Fans who are not members of TSO’s fan club, and who have registered during the “12 Days of TSO Verified Fan Registration” will have the opportunity to participate in a presale on September 11 and 12. General public on sale is set to begin on September 14. For more details on tour dates and all on sales, visit www.trans-siberian.com. 

Based on TSO’s multi-platinum DVD and long running PBS fundraiser, “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve,” this year’s tour will include new awe-inspiring effects, as well as amazing staging with an all new design from the dedicated team handpicked by the group’s late creator, Paul O’Neill.

The rock opera also features such enduring fan-favorites as "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24," "O’ Come All Ye Faithful," "Good King Joy," "Christmas Canon," "Music Box Blues," "Promises To Keep," and "This Christmas Day." Additionally, the tour will enjoy a new second set containing some of TSO’s greatest hits and fan-pleasers.

As in all previous years, a portion of every ticket sold benefits select local charities. To date, more than $15 million has been distributed from TSO to worthy charities all across North America.

On September 28, Rhino Entertainment will release a 20th Anniversary Edition of “The Christmas Attic” on CD and digitally. A vinyl version of the release will be available November 23. The second installment in “The Christmas Trilogy” tells the story of a little girl who spends the night in an attic filled with yuletide reveries, while guitar solos and choral vocals soar over a rock orchestral backing across 16 tracks, including a previously unreleased on CD and vinyl version of “Christmas Jam (Live).”

Since its historic touring debut, TSO has played in excess of 1,850 Winter Tour shows for more than 15 million fans, with tour grosses of more than $675 million. The group has also sold 12 million albums and DVDs. 

TSO’s Winter Tour 2017 achieved a record gross of more than $61.5 million with approximately 1 million tickets sold.  The tour was ranked No. 11 on the Worldwide Ticket Sales “Top 100 Tours” chart (also No. 11 in 2016), No. 15 on the “Top 200 North American Tours” chart (up from No. 16 in 2016), and No. 27 on the “Top 100 Worldwide Tours” by concert industry trade Pollstar magazine. In 2009, Pollstar ranked TSO at No. 20 on the “Top Tour(s) of the Decade” and Billboard placed TSO at No. 25 on its “Top Touring Artists of the Decade.”