Having won numerous prestigious awards throughout his career and being highly sought after by various organizations, composer John Rea sees his works performed in Canada, the United States, and Europe. He explores a wide variety of genres: chamber music, musical theater, electroacoustic music, stage music, and works for large ensembles such as symphony orchestras, ballets, choirs, and opera. He also writes about music and has published many articles.

For more than twenty years, his reorchestration (1995) for twenty-one musicians of Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck, Op. 7—commissioned and premiered by the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne—has been presented around the world in more than a dozen new productions. He also completed a reorchestration for twenty-eight musicians of Berg's Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6, thanks to a commission jointly awarded by the Musikkollegium Winterthur (Switzerland) and the NEM.

Until the year 2019, John Rea taught composition, music theory, and orchestration at McGill University, where he was the dean of the Faculty of Music (1986-1991), now the Schulich School of Music. He co-founded two music societies in Montreal (Les Événements du neuf and Traditions musicales du monde) and was a member of the artistic committee of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec for twenty-five years. The Society named him Composer of the Year for its Hommage series during the 2015-16 season.

Having won numerous prestigious awards throughout his career and being highly sought after by various organizations, composer John Rea sees his works performed in Canada, the United States, and Europe. He explores a wide variety of genres: chamber music, musical theater, electroacoustic music, stage music, and works for large ensembles such as symphony orchestras, ballets, choirs, and opera. He also writes about music and has published many articles.

For more than twenty years, his reorchestration (1995) for twenty-one musicians of Alban Berg’s opera Wozzeck, Op. 7—commissioned and premiered by the Nouvel Ensemble Moderne—has been presented around the world in more than a dozen new productions. He also completed a reorchestration for twenty-eight musicians of Berg's Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6, thanks to a commission jointly awarded by the Musikkollegium Winterthur (Switzerland) and the NEM.

Until the year 2019, John Rea taught composition, music theory, and orchestration at McGill University, where he was the dean of the Faculty of Music (1986-1991), now the Schulich School of Music. He co-founded two music societies in Montreal (Les Événements du neuf and Traditions musicales du monde) and was a member of the artistic committee of the Société de musique contemporaine du Québec for twenty-five years. The Society named him Composer of the Year for its Hommage series during the 2015-16 season.