Richard Burnett is above all associated with the period piano of which he a leading exponent. He studied at the Royal College of Music; King's College, Cambridge, and subsequently with Peter Katin. As a pianist on the modern instrument he has given many recitals and broadcasts in the UK and overseas. He was associated with a number of contemporary composers including Harrison Birtwhistle and Edwin Roxburgh, who wrote Labyrinth for him to be played on the Bösendorfer Imperial Grand. His interest in contemporary music drew him to the sound possibilities of the piano and its history, and thence to his collection of period instruments housed at Finchcocks, Goudhurst, Kent, which he runs as a museum and music centre.