The Multicultural Harvest Festival was an event hosted by the Interfaith Campus Ministry. It was a time to share the various cultures and traditions of students and faculty members at the University of Massachusetts Boston. People sang songs, read poems, and played instruments.
There were only two clubs in attendance of the event: the Interfaith Campus Ministry and Japanese Language Club. There was a total of four performances from the UMass Boston Gospel Choir and another from the Japanese Language Club.
First, the Interfaith Campus Choir performed “I Woke Up This Morning and Stayed My Mind on Jesus,” an old gospel song. It spoke of waking up in the morning and trusting in the Lord throughout the day.
Then, “Over My Head” was played, a song with considerable historical context. It’s a very old song that developed around the Civil War Era, one that slaves sang while working in plantation fields, taking care to not let the owner hear them. It is a song that sings about how despite the trouble around, they still recognized the beauty and glory of God in their lives.
“Jesus on the Mainland” was the third song performed. Adrienne Berry-Burton, the advisor for the Interfaith Campus Choir, explained the song to The Mass Media: “Back in my day, there weren’t any cell phones. When you got a call, you needed to go to the party line and answer the phone. People living in the same building would have the same phone number, so whenever the people got on the phone on the second floor, people on the first floor wouldn’t get calls until the people on the second floor were finished. The mainland for this song means you can make individual calls to Jesus. When you call, he will answer.”
“Thank You Lord” was the last song performed by the choir. There was a solo that followed by Nicole Dicienzo singing “Power of Redeem” by Lauren Daigle.
After that, Kiki Fiote presented her poem, “How Great Is He.” It was about thanking the Lord for saving his followers.
Next, we had Ting Him Lo and Fiote performing “Your Love Defends Me” by Matt Maher. Lo was the pianist and Fiote was the backup singer. At last, Jaydah Monteiro from the Japanese Language Club performed. She performed “Veni Veni Emmanuel” by John Mason Neal.