Courtesy of Marla Singleton
Key Points
- Drums in Recovery will celebrate its 10th anniversary with DRUMFEST on Nov. 13 at the Apopka Community Center, featuring live performances and a drum circle.
- Founder Marla Singleton started Drums in Recovery in 2016, inspired by healing through music, and now offers DRUMBEAT and Rhythm2Recovery programs.
- The nonprofit serves over 2,000 people yearly across Central Florida and has improved emotional regulation in 95% of participants.
Local nonprofit Drums in Recovery is set to celebrate its tenth anniversary with DRUMFEST, scheduled for 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13, at the Apopka Community Center.
Drums in Recovery invites DRUMFEST attendees to enjoy entertainment from Orlando Taiko Dojo and Toppermost Beatles Tribute, participate in the festival’s 1960s costume contest, and join a three-tier drum circle, facilitated by Drums in Recovery founder Marla Singleton.
Singleton founded Drums in Recovery in 2016, after watching the Music Together programs she directed bring families healing. Music Together provides music education for children ages 5 and under.
“I was just seeing so much healing with music and the families from physical ailments, like one little boy couldn’t even speak — he couldn’t make sounds. And through the music, he began singing, and then speaking,” she said. “I started looking into music therapy and came across drumming.”
Singleton then completed training to work as a facilitator for DRUMBEAT, “a social and emotional learning program” from Australian nonprofit Holyoake “that stands for Discovering Relationships Using Music, Beliefs, Emotions, Attitudes, and Thoughts,” according to the Holyoake website.
“DRUMBEAT is a 10-week program that we offer. Each week has a theme, and we learn to play the drums from scratch, so no musical experience necessary to join the class,” she said. “Then we learn to play music in harmony, and we have conversations about what skills are we using to learn this to play the drum, and how can we use those same skills in life to change our rhythm in life?… If you pertain that to recovery, it really opens up the mind to new possibilities and hope.”
Drums in Recovery also offers what Singleton calls “an advanced DRUMBEAT” curriculum called Rhythm2Recovery, created by DRUMBEAT founder Simon Faulkner.
“They have Rhythm2Recovery substance abuse. They have Rhythm2Recovery bullying awareness, Rhythm2Recovery youth violence prevention — and then there’s all kinds of different curriculums,” Singleton said. “We had a DRUMBEAT parenting — I took it and created a Rhythm2Recovery parenting, and then I also have a Rhythm2Recovery grief, addressing grief through rhythm.”
According to the Drums in Recovery website, the nonprofit has led programs at many facilities across Central Florida, including House of Hope Orlando, Phillis Wheatley Elementary School, John E. Polk Correctional Facility and more. Drums in Recovery currently serves more than 2,000 individuals per year, works with more than 20 community partners, and has improved the emotional regulation of 95% of its participants, according to the site.
“Music just connects us in so many ways,” Singleton said. “It just brings us together despite our differences.”
Tickets to DRUMFEST 2026 start at $10 per person and are available at zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/drum-fest-cultivating-community-through-rhythm.