The winter of 2010 saw the addition of a number of performers to Trans-Siberian Orchestra's east touring group. Along with four other fresh, new female voices was dance captain and vocalist, Natalya Rose. With a grueling tour schedule of over 75 shows in just eight short weeks, her first national tour was a whirlwind of excitement and hard work. The following spring found the Virginia native inspiring the best from her fellow dancers in Europe and over the course of the next five years she hit the stage for over 400 shows.

At the end of June 2014, Natalya revealed on Facebook that she was going to be facing the fight of her young life: "I don't know how to say this without it sounding a little dramatic... I had a suspicious lymph node removed that was found as a result of my recent shoulder injury. I didn't want to tell everyone because I wasn't sure I needed to cause any kind of worry. Unfortunately, my fears have been confirmed. I have been diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma. For those of you who aren't familiar, it's a rare, but curable cancer. I only found out a couple hours ago so I don't really have many details but I promise to keep everyone informed going forward. Again, it's curable and I'm gonna beat it, but I still can't help crying about it. I'm just in shock. Please send thoughts of love to my family who are all planning to be by my side through this process. I know they're worried sick and trying to be strong for me."

As prayers and support from Trans-Siberian Orchestra fans poured in, Natalya faced this new challenge with poise and determination. Surprising many, she battled her way back to the stage in November and joined her fellow band members for not only opening day in Toledo, Ohio, but every show on the tour.

Purple bracelets could be seen on fans' arms in a show of support of Team Natalya. Many hugs and tears of joy were shared during the band's after-evening-show signing lines as fans expressed how inspired they were by her hard fought battle.

Near the end of the tour Brad Parmerter spoke with her about dancing and singing as a child, her introduction to TSO, the diagnosis and her fight to make the tour, how she beat cancer and how much the fans' support meant to her. Natalya's strength and determination was apparent as she described her battle and her poise inspiring.

Read this rather lengthy by clicking here.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra will release their new album, Letters From The Labyrinth, on November 13th via Universal Music.

TSO has become one of the most successful stories in rock 'n' roll history. Defying the odds with each project, they continue to search for new and original ideas to bring to reality no matter how difficult the challenge. The TSO saga continues this year with a new album, Letters From The Labyrinth - yet another endeavor in creating something different. O'Neill's inspiration for this album came out of his love for history.

As collector of antiquities and historical artifacts, he explains, "Over the years I have been able to read and hold in my hands letters from people that have inspired me and left a mark on civilization. People like Mark Twain, Ben Franklin, Thomas Edison, Orville Wright - when I actually held a letter in my hand that President Lincoln wrote, it brought me into his world in a way I could never have imagined."

Letters From The Labyrinth finds a conceptually provocative song cycle pushing the proverbial envelope yet again - this time with what O'Neill calls TSO's "first hybrid album”. The overall concept is based on TSO's Night Castle (2009) and a dialogue between the wisdom of the past and the hopes for the future, via a correspondence between a child and an old friend of the child's grandfather.

On Letters From The Labyrinth, TSO deals with subjects as broad as humanity's journey through the ages ("Time & Distance"), and as specific as bullying ("Not The Same"), the fall of the Berlin Wall ("Prometheus") and the world banking controversies ("Not Dead Yet").
    
"I love making music and I love making it relevant," O'Neill says. "I always believed the arts have a way of inspiring and uniting people. We try to maintain that tradition on the albums and all the other projects we do. I think that when everything else is falling apart, people look to the arts to help make sense of things and put the events they are experiencing into some kind of context."

Tracklisting:

“Time And Distance (The Dash)”
“Madness Of Men”
“Prometheus”
“Mountain Labyrinth”
“King Rurik”
“Prince Igor”
“The Night Conceives”
“Forget About The Blame”
“Not Dead Yet”
“Past Tomorrow”
“Stay”
“Not The Same”
“Who I Am”
“Lullaby Night”

Bonus Track:
“Forget About The Blame” - featuring Lzzy Hale