Three decades after its founding as a refuge for music, activism and queer visibility, the Reveille Men’s Chorus will raise its collective voice this weekend in Tucson in celebration of its 30th anniversary.

The group is marking the occasion with a pair of performances at the Temple of Music and Art on Saturday and Sunday, with tickets available to purchase online or at the door.

With commitments to public health awareness, building community and inclusion, visibility has been at the heart of queer men’s choirs across the United States, and Reveille is no different.

Rob Groves, president of the board of directors of the Reveille Men’s Choir, has been a member of the group for 12 years and involved with choirs since he was a child.

“I was certainly never the most talented person in the room, but I found community in those spaces in ways that I didn't in other spaces,” Groves told Tucson Spotlight.

After accepting a teaching position with the University of Arizona in 2013, Groves took the opportunity to return to his musical roots and joined Reveille.

He credits the choir’s intergenerational space with building connections that wouldn’t otherwise happen.

“I was pretty intimidated the first couple weeks, but I fell in love with it pretty quickly and pretty hard. It was a very welcoming space,” Groves said. “It (became) an incubator for connections in a way that I don't think would happen in most other spaces.”

Men's choirs are no stranger to activism in the U.S. In 1978, the San Francisco Gay Men’s Choir performed at the candlelight vigil of then-San Francisco Supervisor Harvey Milk, the first openly gay elected official in California who was assassinated inside City Hall.

In 1985, the New York City Gay Men’s Choir performed in "Best of the Best," the first celebrity AIDS fundraiser in New York City.

The Trump administration’s recent attacks on funding for programs supporting diversity, equity, inclusion and cultural identities have sparked concerns among many marginalized communities and prompted nationwide protests.

“I think although the current events suck unambiguously, it has re-lit the fire in some people who were starting to get complacent,” Groves said. “We're realizing how fragile a lot of that is, and the continued need for us to be visible, to be vocal, to be sort of fighting for our existence.”

Michael Scofield, section leader for Reveille’s baritones, has performed with gay men’s choirs in Portland, Phoenix and now Tucson.

A member of the HIV-positive community, Scofield recalls looking up to members of the ACT UP (AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power) movement in the late 1980s, which strived to respond to the needs of those impacted by the AIDS epidemic during a time when AIDS was still deeply stigmatized.

Scofield finds activism through his singing.

“It's disappointing that we still have to be where we're at today, because it feels like every week there's another significant attack,” Scofield said. “We got to get out, and make our voice heard. And if it's not just for us, it's for someone else who's struggling in the shadows.”

As of April 19, more than 850 anti-LGBTQ+ bills have been introduced in state legislatures across the U.S. just this year alone.

The Arizona Legislature introduced six different bills last week.

While Scofield has been singing in choirs since he was 7, his relationship with choir participation strained as he entered his teens. While he realized he was gay, he rejected his identity, developing internalized homophobia.

“I thought (singing) was making me gay,” Scofield said. “When you're fourteen, fifteen, you start looking at your life and you're like, ‘what is the cause for these problems?’ I figured if I'd stopped singing, that would go away, because that was considered gay or effeminate. And it didn't work.“

As he entered college, Scofield joined a fraternity in order to feel more masculine.

It was after meeting a boyfriend online that he realized his homosexuality wasn’t going away, leading to an acceptance of his orientation.

The following semester, he came out to his fraternity brothers, who accepted him with open arms.

“Life has a way of almost, like, showing you the right way,” Scofield said.

Reveille and its members strive to change lives through music, both externally to its audience and internally within the choir.

Kevin Carroll, a Reveille tenor, wasn’t known as the singer in his family. That distinction belonged to his brother.

“I had a very famous Broadway actor brother who was the dame of Broadway in the 80s,” Carroll said. “We lost him to AIDS in 1992. I never wanted to sing, because he was the singer.”

David Carroll’s last and best-remembered role was that of Baron Felix von Gaigern in "Grand Hotel: The Musical," for which he earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical.

After retiring in Tucson, Carroll found purpose and camaraderie within Reveille.

“I joined the chorus and found a family of brothers and sisters who allowed me to carry on in a way that I wasn't sure I would,” Carroll said. “They are the most wonderful, caring, loving group of people I have ever known in my entire adult life. I sing not just for my brother, but I sing for all of them, too.”

Todd Gollersruve first attended Reveille’s Christmas recital as a patron in late 2018. A Marine Corps veteran, Gollersruve’s challenges with mental health kept him from participating with Reveille after being inspired at that first recital experience.

After almost seven years since that Christmas recital, he ran into a Reveille member while having coffee with friends.

After asking about the member’s experience and the process of joining the choir, Gollersruve's interest was once again piqued. He took a leap of faith and hasn’t looked back.

“I can't say enough about them,” Gollersruve said. “We're not just friends, we're family. I love it, it's great.”

Robin, a tenor with the choir, came out as transmasculine a few years ago, identifying within categories of nonbinary and agender gender expression.

“My mom tells me that when I was a tiny toddler, I'd dance to any sound,” Robin said. “When I had the opportunity to join choir and different types of music in school, it was immediate.”

Robin put off singing for a decade in order to take care of his mental health. Once he motivated himself to seek out the local music community, he found himself singing in Reveille.

“People have not treated me differently, everyone's been so, so kind,” Robin said. “There's so much love and community in the room, it’s palpable.”

With the COVID-19 pandemic dashing plans for Reveille’s 25th anniversary performance in 2020, Groves wants to share a performance with community members that honors what Reveille was and now is.

“(It’s) a really exciting time to look back on all of that and get excited for what's to come,” Groves said.

Carroll agrees.

“It's really meaningful to me that this organization has survived and thrived through pandemics and financial downturns and all the things that choruses like this have faced around the world,” Carroll said. “And here we are. And we're standing up and we're singing out, proud, and I'm proud to be part of it.”

Reveille’s 30th anniversary performance will be held Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. at the Temple of Music & Art, located at 330 S. Scott Ave.

Topacio “Topaz” Servellon is a freelance journalist out of Tucson. Contact them at topacioserve@gmail.com.

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