John Redondo Halliday was born to John Roland and Mary Robinson Halliday on September 8, 1911. Halliday was taught early to love learning and make the best of opportunities given him, and soon discovered his love of sharing knowledge with others as a devotee of the clarinet and the piano. John married Flora Fowlke on June 4, 1931; after serving a mission in Switzerland and Germany, Flora joined him there as he stayed on to enroll at the State Academy in Berlin, Germany, where he learned to favor choral conducting. He went on to earn Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Brigham Young University (BYU) (1935 and 1936), and a PhD from Eastman School of Music, Rochester, New York, in 1941, the first ever in America to receive that advanced degree in music theory. Soon after graduation, John was employed by Brigham Young University as a full-time professor of music, taking over when Robert Sauer retired in 1943. During the forty-two years Halliday spent at BYU, he served as the chairman of the Music Department for twelve years, and as acting Dean of the College of Fine Arts for two, but enjoyed by far conducting musical ensembles and teaching music theory. He participated in and directed numerous small ensembles, and served as the co-director of a study abroad program to Salzburg, Austria. Halliday--father of Noel, Carol, Mary, and Ruth--retired in July 1976. He and Flora served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, presiding over the Italy Milan mission from 1976-1979. Halliday passed away November 26, 1987, in Sandy, Utah.