Mike Wallen has been a barbershopper since 1974 and is a member of the Mid-Atlantic District's honorary chapter, DELASUSQUEHUDMAC. He first joined the Society in Asbury Park, NJ; by 1977 he was a member of the Alexandria Harmonizers. As Associate Director of the Harmonizers from 1981 to 1998, he won four International Chorus Championships. Shortly after winning the last of those four in Atlanta in 1998, Mike agreed to come to Richmond as interim director after the departure of Gary Parker. Given only ten weeks to prepare, Mike nonetheless directed the Virginians to a third-place finish in the 1998 Mid-Atlantic District chorus competition, after which he and the chapter Board decided to make it a permanent relationship; Mike and the Virginians went on to win the year 2000 District Championship in October, 1999.
Besides his directing record, Mike brings a wealth of musical experience to the table. During his active military duty, he was a member of the Army Chorale. He was also audio engineer for the Army Band, a skill that he has put to use in barbershop since that time. He has been recording engineer for six Harmonizers recordings, two more by Vaudeville, and one each by Bay Rum Runners and Hijinx. He was Audio-Visual Director for the Mid-Atlantic District for three years.
Mike is a three-time Mid-Atlantic District quartet champion: as lead with Alexandria's Ragtime Band, as baritone with Copyright 86, and as tenor of Casino (Mike has the disctinction of being the only man ever to win the M-AD quartet championship singing three different voice parts). He also was lead in the popular comedy quartet, the Entertainers. Most recently, he sang baritone in the Richmond chapter quartet Like Father, Like Son, placing second in the Southern Division after being together for only a few weeks.
Mike is also an experienced and sought-after quartet and chorus coach; he is frequently seen as a quartet coach at Harmony College East.