Expatriate Australian singer-songwriter Yanni Burton will be making his Canberra debut to help a good cause. He'll be using the concert to support Retina Australia, an organisation that raises money for research into the detection, prevention, treatment and cure of inherited retinal dystrophies.

"Having grown up with my cousin for the past 27 years, who has retinitis pigmentosa, I know first-hand how important the work of Retina Australia is," he says.

Burton says his music is contemporary – "I like to call it acoustic pop" – and his songs, exploring aspects of love, draw on his background in classical music as well as his past relationships ("They'll be over in New York, so I'm safe").

He's backed by his New York City band, a string quartet as well as guitar, drums, and piano, on his Australian tour, which also takes in Adelaide, Braidwood, Melbourne and Launceston (the last another benefit concert, for Care for Africa).

"I don't know how I managed to pull this off – I'll be in debt for a while."

Burton has a classical music background. He was born in Cranbrook, NSW and grew up mostly in Adelaide. He started learning the double bass when he was 12: the size of the instrument meant it was hard to start it earlier. He got into the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts but didn't enjoy it – "It wasn't for me".

He sent a tape audition to the San Francisco Conservatory and two weeks later was offered a scholarship to study there. He then went on to the Julliard School in New York City, also on a scholarship.

He's been based in New York since and for the past three years has been principal bass with a classical chamber ensemble, the Salome Chamber Orchestra. But he's also performed with pop stars such as John Legend, Michelle Williams and Rufus Wainwright and has drawn inspiration from musicians such as Angus and Julius Stone and Coldplay. He's performed at Carnegie Hall and the Lincoln Center among other venues.

Although he has always had a passion for composition and writing lyrics, he says pop is a recent career path. "I started writing about two years ago and released an EP, Same Old Love. last year … it's been getting a bit of traction. I've done a lot of shows in New York."

But Burton is still dividing his time between two musical worlds. Two days after his final Australian performance he is flying to Britain to perform in the Aldeburgh Music Festival, which was founded in 1948 by composer Benjamin Britten, his partner, singer Peter Pears and director-librettist Eric Crozier.

"I've been a Fellow for four years. It's a year-long music festival and I often go two or three times a year. This year I'm only going once."

Then it's back to New York, his partner, and the orchestra – as well as his plans for the future.

"I'm hoping to set up a US tour in the summer. One step at a time."