A 'Silent Night' Like You've Never Heard: Franciscan Sisters Featured Song for Christmas
Contact: Sr. Julieann Sheahan, OSF, 920-323-9632
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn., Dec. 23, 2013 /
Christian Newswire/ -- Discerning the joy of Christmas, Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity feature Twin Cities guitarist Nick Kiekenapp's serene version of 'Silent Night". Visit
fscc-calledtobe.org for a free download through December at the Franciscanized World.
Reflecting on his unique approach, Kiekenapp observed "The beauty and simplicity of 'Silent Night' inspired my arrangement of the song. In my version I attempt to create a meditative atmosphere with layered guitars and an improvised section in the middle while still keeping true to the simple melody and harmony. The imagery of the text now is imagined in the melody and the echoes of the guitar. These sounds reference the styles of avant-garde guitarists Nels Cline and Bill Frisell whose modern influences have revolutionized instrumental guitar."
I also wanted to reference the original version of the song due to its close relationship to the guitar. As the legend goes, the organ at a small Austrian church broke down before Christmas Mass, inspiring the text. Later, the text was set to guitar accompaniment by Franz Gruber in acknowledgement of the "silent" Christmas Eve Mass a few years prior."
A recent graduate of the University of St. Thomas music program, Kiekenapp is currently writing a method book aimed at teaching young guitarists how to play by learning from transcribed solos of early Jazz legends.
The young Jazz Historian also fronts the Nick Kiekenapp Quartet, the Funk cover band Space Exploders, and the Country group Los Coyotes. He's also performed with Sixties Pop icon Bobby Vee and legendary drummer Max Weinberg.
Established in 1869, the Roman Catholic Franciscan Sisters of Christian Charity serve in Catholic Health Care, Education and Parish-Community Service across the United States. Ministry locations extend across the U. S. from their Wisconsin convent to Hawaii and the westernmost parish in the U.S., rural Ohio and Nebraska, the Mission of San Xavier Du Bac in Tucson and parochial schools in the Green Bay and Phoenix Dioceses.
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