Michelle Henderson
President - The Children's Group Inc., Canada

With more than twenty-five years experience in the music industry, Henderson is a respected and seasoned professional with a particular expertise in the development, packaging and marketing of music and entertainment for children.

Henderson has been at the helm of The Children's Group since its inception in 1990. Under her leadership, The Children's Group has distinguished itself as Canada's most successful independent producer of classical music and story-based entertainment for children with a vision to instill a lifelong love of classical music, great storytelling and stimulating activities in young children.

The Children's Group has earned sales exceeding four million CDs, including four Canadian Recording Industry Association-certified Gold and two Certified Platinum Records in the best-selling Classical Kids series (Beethoven Lives Upstairs, Tchaikovsky Discovers America, Mozart's Magnificent Voyage, to name only a few). In 1999 and again in 2000, two of The Children's Group's Mozart Effect Music for Children/Music for Babies CDs appeared within the Top 15 in Billboard magazine's year-end Classical Best-Sellers list, with the label's producer, Don Campbell, designated the #3 best-selling classical artist behind Andrea Bocelli and Yo-Yo Ma. Overall, The Mozart Effect series spent more than 85 weeks on the Billboard Charts.

Over the past fifteen years, Henderson has worked to develop CDs with Classical Kids producer Susan Hammond (the record holder for Juno Awards in the Best Children's Recording category with an unprecedented six statues to her name); The Mozart Effect Music for Children/Music for Babies producer Don Campbell; television personality and author Dini Petty (The Queen, The Bear & The Bumblebee); children's television and live performing artists Judy and David; and most recently, best-selling and best-loved children's author/storyteller, Robert Munsch. The label's reach as a producer of audio entertainment for children has expanded to include the Emmy Award-winning film/DVD, Beethoven Lives Upstairs, live concerts, literary books, interactive multimedia and educational resources with a worldwide audience.

During the course of her career, Henderson has contributed to the careers of virtually all of Canada's children's music superstars, including Raffi, Sharon, Lois & Bram, Fred Penner, Charlotte Diamond, Jack Grunsky, Judy & David, Al Simmons, and Carmen Campagne in addition to The Children's Group's current talent roster and many, many more. Henderson was also the first to introduce Canadian children's television icons OWL/TV and Theodore Tugboat to the home video market.

Henderson's leadership has contributed to the industry in a variety of ways, including six years as chair of the Canadian Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (CARAS) Juno Awards nominating committee for Best Children's Recording. Henderson is still an active member of the committee. For two years, Henderson sat on the Royal Conservatory of Music's Learning Through the Arts advisory board. In 1996, Henderson was named as one of the "Music Women to Watch" by Music Women International.