Michael John Hurd (19 December 1928 – 8 August 2006) was a composer, teacher and author, principally known for his dramatic cantatas for schools and for his choral music.

After National Service he taught at the Royal Marines Band School at Deal,[4] (1953–59) before settling as a freelance composer in East Hampshire, where he took a leading role in the area's music-making.

He was also friends with the British-born Australian composer Michael Easton, with whom he helped establish the Port Fairy Spring Music Festival in Victoria, Australia.

[1] His numerous dramatic works for schoolchildren,[12] especially the "pop cantata" Jonah-Man Jazz (1966), were widely performed during his lifetime and are still heard in schools today.

[14] However, as Geoffrey Bush pointed out, more serious pieces by Hurd such as the Missa brevis (also 1966) share equally the lyrical invention, sensitivity to words and understanding of the voice seen in his most popular works.