Featured Teacher
From Slovakia to New York,
One Beat at a Time
A conversation with Mattia Müller — drums, guitar & piano
Some teachers pass along technique. The rare ones pass along a way of seeing. Mattia Müller — drummer, guitarist, composer, and one of our most beloved Willan Academy teachers — is firmly in the second camp. When he isn't teaching, he's performing at jazz clubs, recording albums, and sharing stages with some of New York's most respected musicians. We sat down with him to talk about his journey from the conservatories of Slovakia to the stages of Lincoln Center, and what he brings into every lesson he teaches.
A road that started in Slovakia — and Italy
Mattia grew up between Slovakia and Italy, beginning his drum studies at a music school in Milan before returning to train at the prestigious Bratislava Conservatory. But before music fully took over, he was also a competitive go-kart driver — placing second at the World Championship at age twelve.
"That experience had a huge impact on my discipline and my belief that high-level achievement is possible through focus and hard work," he shares. "That mindset stayed with me when I moved to Boston, and it still stays with me now in New York."
At the Bratislava Conservatory, Mattia built a deep foundation in classical percussion, theory, sight-reading, and ear training — and went on to win the Slovak Inter-Conservatory National Competition in all categories. From there, he earned a full scholarship to Berklee College of Music, where his artistic identity truly came into its own.
"Teaching keeps me connected to the reason I started music in the first place. Sometimes a beginner asks a simple question that makes me rethink something I have done for years."
Berklee, Lincoln Center, and the debut album
At Berklee, Mattia didn't just study music — he found his people. A close circle of serious, creative musicians pushed each other constantly. Mentors like Darren Barrett, Francisco Mela, and Matthew Stevens shaped him as a performer, improviser, and composer. And it was there he gave himself permission to be more than just a sideman.
In 2024, Mattia released his debut jazz album Laser Sights and performed it at Lincoln Center alongside saxophonist Immanuel Wilkins — "one of my saxophone heroes," he says. The album weaves jazz with fusion and experimental influence, and was recorded partly in Slovakia with close friends from Berklee. "Every song means something specific to me," Mattia reflects. "For me, it is about energy, freedom, memory, and connection."
Three instruments, one philosophy
What makes Mattia genuinely rare as a teacher is that he teaches drums, guitar, and piano — all at a high level. Each instrument, he says, draws out something different in him. Drums are his roots: technique, groove, feel, and the deeper question of what it means to make an instrument feel good inside the music. Guitar was his first love, and he brings that excitement to every student who shares it. Piano, he jokes, might now be the instrument he loves most of all — it's where harmony, melody, and composition come together.
"At the end of the day, I am not only teaching drums, guitar, or piano," he says. "I am teaching music — how to listen, how to feel, how to practice, and how to express yourself."
"I showed a young guitar student a video of Jimi Hendrix, and the look on his face genuinely moved me. It reminded me of the first time my father showed me Jimi Hendrix when I was young."
What he's really looking for in a first lesson
When Mattia meets a new student, he's not evaluating ability — he's listening for who the person is. What music moves them. What frustrates them. What they want music to become in their life. His Berklee training shifted him away from the rigid conservatory model toward something more human: finding the door that makes music feel accessible to each individual.
He's taught students from age 6 to 60, and he sees something essential in common between all of them: the desire to feel capable. "Everyone wants to experience that moment where something suddenly clicks."
What he hopes students take with them
Even if a student never performs professionally, Mattia hopes they leave with something that lasts. Discipline. Patience. Self-expression. A relationship with music that can accompany them through life. "Music can become a way to express emotion, understand themselves, connect with others, and experience beauty," he says. "If my students leave with that, then I feel like I did something important."
Mattia teaches drums, guitar, and piano at Willan Academy of Music. To learn more about studying with Mattia or to schedule a first lesson, reach out to us — we'd love to connect you.