KWU Music Hall of Fame Announces New Class

The Kansas Wesleyan Music Department is delighted to announce the latest inductees into the KWU Music Hall of Fame.

Beverly Salmon '57, Dr. Donald "Don" Donaldson '60 and Jake Montoya '05 will be inducted at a 7 p.m. concert Oct. 16 in Sams Chapel during Homecoming.

Salmon majored in Music Education and minored in Church Music and was a student of Harry Huber, one of last year's inductees. She played and taught piano and harp. As a director, she led choirs in local, national and international churches, including ghettoes in Chicago. While her husband, Rev. William Salmon '57, entered global missionary work, she was the Dallas principal harpist. Her work with the Ecumenical Institute/Institute of Cultural Affairs took her around the world.

A Salina resident, she was an active member of Trinity United Methodist Church. Salmon passed away in 2018, at the age of 82.

Donaldson began his career as a teacher, professor and choir director after leaving KWU, where he majored in Music. He earned a master's degree in Music Education from Wichita State University. Equipped with a Doctorate of Music Arts from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, Donaldson came back to Kansas Wesleyan as a professor of Music Education and Choral Studies for six years, from 1978 to 1984. He finished his career as a professor at Asbury College (now University) from 1984 to 2000.

In 2001 he conducted a choir of Shawnee Mission South High School alumni at Carnegie Hall in New York City. Distinguished Concerts International New York at Lincoln Center named him an Educator Laureate in 2011.

Donaldson died in 2021 in Indiana.

Montoya is the current director of the KWU Howl Pep Band and Jazz Ensemble and lead recruiter for the Music Department, returning full time to his alma mater in 2023.

While a KWU student studying Music Education, with an emphasis on saxophone and a second on guitar, Montoya was the student director of pep band and of bands and band manager. He was named the outstanding musician in symphonic and jazz ensembles, as well as the outstanding jazz musician.

After teaching in the Solomon School District for eight years, Montoya transferred to the Salina public schools as instrumental music director. The district named him Secondary Teacher of the Year for 2017-18. He also plays with Theatre Salina and the Salina Symphony, where he is the Junior Symphony director.

"All three of these inductees had or have outstanding careers as teachers and performers," said Michelle Dolan, executive director of Music. "Their most important contribution, however, is the effect they have left on the lives of their students. Because of that, they have a lasting impression on the musical arts in Kansas and beyond."