MY HUSBAND PHONED from work one morning last week to tell me he’d just won two tickets from a local radio station to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.
I was thrilled. I love classical music and have never attended a professional orchestra concert.
This album cover has nothing to do with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra except the location, New York City. Joe Krush created this cover photo for Joseph Kuhn’s 1958 “Symphony for Blues” record album cover. I recently purchased 10 vintage records, including this one, at the Faribault Salvation Army for the cover art. If I own a record player, I’m not sure where it’s stored or if it works.
“Are they were from Siberia?” I asked, noting the orchestra name.
“No, New York, I think,” Randy responded.
It didn’t matter. I was excited about the upcoming concert. Since Randy needed to get back to work, I didn’t ask for additional details.
Later, I shared the news with our oldest daughter. The conversation went something like this:
Daughter: You do know that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is a rock band, right?
Me: Uh, no. I thought it was a classical orchestra. Oh, oh. Maybe now I don’t want to go.
Daughter: Bring your ear plugs.
And that is how I learned that my husband and I, who last took in a rock concert (by The Moody Blues) at the St. Paul Civic Center decades ago before children, would not be hearing the lovely and soothing classical music I imagined.
Instead, we’ll be bombarded by steel guitars, so I’m told by someone who’s twice heard the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in concert. The few token string instruments in the band are, he claims, barely audible above the rest of the instruments. Still, he says, we’ll see and hear an outstanding performance which also includes pyrotechnics.
Alright then. Fire and loud rock music. Cool.
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas concert includes a touch of Broadway. Again, unrelated except for the Broadway element, here’s another vintage record album I recently purchased for the graphic arts element.
The band’s 2012 holiday tour marks the debut performance of their rock opera, “The Lost Christmas Eve,” fusing elements of rock, classical, folk, Broadway and R & B music. I doubt Randy is aware of the “opera” tag.
The performance tells a story that “encompasses a run-down hotel, an old toy store, a blues bar, a Gothic cathedral and their respective inhabitants all intertwined during a single enchanted Christmas Eve in New York City.”
Cool. I appreciate a good story, even if this one’s not set in a quaint Siberian village.
Even the actual albums themselves are a beauty to behold, including this one featuring Wayne King and his orchestra. I bet the Trans-Siberian Orchestra sounds nothing like King.
FOR ANY OF YOU who may be wondering, yes, my spouse was fully aware that the Trans-Siberian Orchestra is a rock band. Hey, I’ve never claimed to know much about music.
Have any of you attended this band’s holiday show? If so, should I bring ear plugs and what’s your review of the performance?
© Copyright 2012 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
Resilience in a song December 5, 2025
Tags: Abbie Betinis, Christmas concert, commentary, Faribault, Faribault High School Choir, holiday concert, Minnesota, music, resilience, Somali Americans, strength, The Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour
AS THEY SANG, I felt my spirits rise, moved by the rhythm of “Resilience” and its empowering lyrics.
This upbeat music, these words, were exactly what I needed to hear Thursday afternoon inside the Cathedral of Our Merciful Saviour as the Faribault High School Choir performed a holiday concert.
Resilience, we are strong; shoulder to shoulder keep movin’ on…stand up…yes, we can…
The beat of that song composed by Minnesotan Abbie Betinis and the message it carries…,well, it fit the day. It was a day when I awakened to a vivid nightmare running rampant through my mind. A dream of ICE agents in a black sedan converging on a community and chasing people out of a building. Gathering them, taking them away and me photographing and screaming at ICE to show some compassion and humanity.
I needed to hear “Resilience,” written by a musician who has taught at nearby St. Olaf College and elsewhere and published the Justice Choir Songbook.
As I watched and listened to the teens perform inside the historic Cathedral, I thought of the Native Americans who long ago worshiped here, befriended by Bishop Henry Whipple. They were not always welcome in this community. But inside the walls of this massive cathedral, they found a place of acceptance.
And then I thought of those young people standing before me, strong in voice, delivering a message that didn’t sound at all like a Christmas song on the surface. But really, it was. Shoulder to shoulder keep movin’ on… The song felt joyful. Uplifting. Moving. Inspirational.
In a selection of songs about light, a Norwegian dala horse, decking the halls, a silent night and more, “Resilience” stood out. I suggested to the students afterwards that they should stand downtown along Central Avenue and sing of strength, resilience and standing shoulder to shoulder. I told them how much they had uplifted me, how much I appreciated and needed to hear that song. And one young man said he was glad he brought me joy via their music.
After those conversations over lemonade and sweet treats, I headed home via Central Avenue. Between stops at a gaming store and a used bookshop, I popped into a corner business run by Somali Americans. Inspired by those high school musicians and deeply troubled by the hateful words directed by our president toward Somalis in Minnesota, I walked into the shop packed with colorful merchandise. “I just want to tell you how happy I am that you are here, that you are in our community,” I said. “I’m sorry for everything that’s happening.” My emotions rose. My voice cracked. Tears edged my eyes.
Then the Somali American man reached out and hugged me. He thanked me, told me it was OK, as did a woman sitting nearby. It was not my intention to cry. But everything just bubbled out. The worry. The concern. The injustice. The sorrow I feel over these Minnesotans being singled out and attacked, told they are “garbage” and are not wanted in this country. They who either fled a war-torn country or were born here and are working hard, like the two Somalis I met, to make a living and home in America.
I left that shop feeling the strength of my neighbors. Resilience, we are strong; shoulder to shoulder keep movin’ on…stand up…yes, we can…
© Copyright 2025 Audrey Kletscher Helbling