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The American music educator, church musician, singer, and choral director, Eric Rea, has degrees in both Church Music and Bible. In 2020, he began a summers-only program at Cal State University Los Angeles, pursuing a Master’s Degree in Choral Conducting, studying with Dr. Christopher Gravis, Dr. William Belan, and the esteemed Donald Brinegar. This revolutionary program has already deeply impacted his approach to the choral arts and was part of the inspiration for forming his own performing ensemble.
Eric Rea was adjunct faculty at Riverside City College for four years, teaching voice and serving first as Assistant Director and then Conductor of the Riverside Master Chorale. He directed the Temecula Valley Symphony Chorus, part of one of the premier arts organizations in the Valley, from its formation in 2015 through the Spring of 2021. He founded a new arts organization, the Southern California Choral Artists, in the Summer of 2021. He joined the full-time music faculty of Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC) in 2015, after serving as an adjunct professor for one year. Since 2015, he he is a tenured, full-time music faculty member of Mt. San Jacinto College (MSJC), where he directs the Menifee Valley Campus vocal ensembles, College Singers and Chamber Choir, teaches music theory and private voice, ear training, music appreciation, private voice lessons, oversees the Applied Music program, and has served as the Department Chair.
Eric Rea is a member of the American Choral Directors Association, and the National Association of Teachers of Singing. He has directed High School summer camp and festival choirs, and served as a choral clinician for schools and churches in Southern California, South Carolina, Florida, Ohio, and Sydney, Australia. An award-winning baritone and accomplished accompanist, he has performed in duo concerts with his wife in the Golden Valley Music Society’s “Classics at the Merc” series, as a soloist with the Temecula Valley Symphony, and as a member of vocal ensembles such as Rivertree Singers, the Temecula Valley Master Chorale, and the Riverside Master Chorale.
Eric Rea serves on the leadership team and leads worship at Grace Bible Church of Murrieta - the reason he and his wife moved from the east coast to California in 2010. He is thankful to God for the many opportunities to intersect with people’s lives through shared musical experiences. His favorite musicians are his wife Heidi Jeanne, their older son Xander, who joined the ensemble in 2014, and Zeke, who just made his debut in October 2021 with some pretty strong lungs. |
