Thirty thousand Bostonians paid tribute Wednesday evening to NTS student officer Herbert Donaldson of Company E who performed the finale of Saint-Saens' Piano Concerto No. 2 at the final Esplanade Concert which was directed by maestro Arthur Fiedler.

Donaldson--who had a wide reputation in the mid-west, as a concert pianist before he forsook the ivories for amperes and flag hoists in Communications--was deluged at the end of his performance with requests for his autograph in addition to prolonged applause.

Ten men from the second platoon of Company E attended the concert to hear their fellow officer. S. O. Donaldson went to Northwestern University and George Washington University. The Chicago Conservatory of Music also conferred a Master of Music degree on the officer.

On Radio

He has appeared at many professional recitals with orchestras in Chicago, Milwaukee, New York City and Washington, D. C. For 36 weeks he was on a sustaining radio program over Station WBBM in Chicago.

Ensign Donaldson misses his music--but will see to it those messages keep pounding out in communications just like he evokes magic from the keyboard.