Trans-Siberian performs Sunday

For a fifth straight year, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra brings its Christmas show back to Spokane on Sunday.

The group combines some two dozen rock band veterans, classically trained musicians and Broadway vocalists into what could be called a holiday rock opera, with a full array of pyrotechnic effects and a laser light show.

It’s the brainchild of Paul O’Neill, a former producer/promoter/guitarist for various rock groups (including Aerosmith) and such Broadway shows as “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Hair.”

One of his projects produced a song called “Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24,” based on the true story of a cellist who continued to play as bombs fell in the war-torn city.

That became the centerpiece of the TSO’s 1996 debut release, “Christmas Eve & Other Stories,” a concept album about an angel sent to Earth.

It was followed in 1998 by “The Christmas Attic” and in 2004 by “The Lost Christmas Eve.”

Earlier this month, the three albums were released in a single box set, “Christmas Trilogy,” which also includes the DVD “The Ghosts of Christmas Eve.”

The group’s touring productions have become a holiday tradition as well. By the end of the year, the TSO will have played live to more than 2 million people since first hitting the road in 1999.