Rees was born in Osnabrück and started learning the cello at the age of five with Christiane Gleisner. He won his first competition at the age of seven and became a protégée of Professor Maria Kliegel at the age of eleven. The same year he gave his debut as a Soloist with the Loh-Orchestra Sondershausen and became a student at the IFF Hannover. At the age of thirteen he changed to the Pre College Cologne and became a pupil of Professor Katharina Deserno.

He won first and second prizes at the national Competition Jugend Musiziert and studied with Professor Maria Kliegel from 2015 at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln. Rees finished his Masters degree in summer 2024 with Professor Thomas Carroll. Masterclasses with Professor Ralph Manno, Professor Wen Sinn Yang, Professor Wolfgang Boettcher, Professor Matt Heimovitz and Professor David Cohen influenced his playing.

Concert activities led him through Germany, to Austria, Israel, Italy, Belgium and South Korea. As a passionate Chamber Musician he played with Marco Sanna, Professor Priya Mitchell, Professor Daniel Rowland, the late Vladimir Mendelssohn, Professor Nathan Braude and Professor Alfredo Perl.

Rees worked at the Niederheinische Sinfoniker from the age of twenty-three and is currently a member of the Philharmonic Orchestra Ulm. In 2022 he co-founded the Trio Florestan.