SASK CHILDREN’S MUSIC SONGWRITING TEAM INTERNATIONALLY RECOGNIZED
The Saskatchewan children’s music songwriting team of Paul Runalls and Chris Atkinson have composed two songs that have advanced to the semi-final stage of the prestigious 2022 International Songwriting Competition (ISC). The two songs are named "Dinos of the World" and "The Talking Haunted House". These songs are sung by Emma Wood and Cam Zoller of Saskatoon.
The team composed the two recognized songs for an animation YouTube educational cartoon series called, “BOOM BUDDIES” by USP Studios. Over the last 15 years, Runalls and Atkinson have had several of their children’s songs internationally recognized, three of which have been named finalists. Only the top 1% of the approximately 15,000 annual song entries become finalists. Some of the judges for ISC include Adele, Mariah Carey, and Rosanne Cash.
The team’s children’s songs are recorded and produced at Audio Art Recording in Saskatoon with the support of musician Sheldon Corbett and sound engineer/musician Glenn Ens. Four other Saskatchewan songwriters in this year’s competition have also been recognized by ISC.
About Paul Runalls
Paul Runalls has over 40 years of musical and educational experience and is currently composing and producing the music for a Saskatchewan children’s music songwriting team, as well as supporting individual student reading growth within the Saskatoon Public School Division. Previously, Paul was a vice principal and grade two teacher within Saskatchewan. In addition, he currently hosts a community radio show in Saskatoon, as well as performing with two Saskatchewan bands called The Residuals and Back of the Bus.
About Chris Atkinson
Chris Atkinson has over 35 years of educational experience and is currently writing lyrics for the songwriting team, as well as lecturing and supporting pre-service teachers at the University of Regina. Previously he taught high school in Saskatchewan and New Zealand for about 15 years and worked as an Assessment Consultant at the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education. A senior mathematics and computer science teacher, Chris has a passion for numbers, as well as performing musical activity shows for young children as BOWTIE Guy.
Contact information: email: chris.atkinson@sasktel.net Paul Runalls - email: runners2@sasktel.net
Song #1 – Dinos of the World – https://youtu.be/1EmjFieGtMc (first song on video)
Song #2 – The Talking Haunted House - https://youtu.be/vwNEYyy8SmM (first song on video)
2022 International Songwriting Competition Semi-Finalist Listings
