Kohei Mizushima is an established arranger and instructor in the field of marching percussion. He is best known for his arranging and instructional work with the Vanguard Cadets. He has been an active instructor of marching percussion for over seven years, teaching students of all levels at various Bay Area high schools including: James Logan High School, Saratoga High School, Monta Vista High School, Mountain View High School, Cupertino High School, Lynbrook High School, Homestead High School, Oak Grove High School and Wilcox High School.
Kohei’s drum corps career began in 2000, as a member of the Drum Corps International Division II World Champion Vanguard Cadets. In 2001, he marched with the San Francisco Renegades where he was taught by the long time Vanguard instructor Kent Cater. Kohei then “aged-out” of the drum corps activity in 2002 with the Santa Clara Vanguard. While marching with the Vanguard and Vanguard Cadets, Kohei was fortunate enough to be taught by such greats as: Jim Casella, Murray Gusseck, Ralph Hardimon , Glenn Crosby, Dave Dillulo, David Reeves and Vince Gardner. Since “aging-out” of drum corps, Kohei kept his ties to the Vanguard organization as an instructor for the Vanguard Cadets from 2003-2006. He was the battery arranger from 2005-2006 and served as the Percussion Caption Head in 2006. In 2004, while working with Dave Dillulo and Nate Bourg, Kohei helped lead the Vanguard Cadets to a Division II High Percussion Award at the Drum Corps International World Championships.
Recently, Kohei’s original composition helped lead the Wilcox High School Winter Percussion Ensemble win the 2007 NCBA Scholastic Division Championships. In the summer of 2007, he instructed the Yokohama Scouts Drum & Bugle Corp from Japan who were named the International Division Champions at Drum Corps International World Championships. In addition to instructing high school percussion ensembles and giving private lessons, Kohei also teaches percussion to children and young adults with autism. Kohei is a member of the VicFirth Education Team and uses VicFirth sticks / mallets exclusively.