Pop music loves a trend. Whether it's the rebirth of garage rock, dance music, or neckties, groupthink seems to be a permanent part of the business, for better or worse. One of the least likely -- and most pleasant -- is the recent crossover between critically lauded singer-songwriters and symphony orchestras. Antony and the Johnsons, Sufjan Stevens, and others have treated fans to impressively bombastic performances of some of the most intimate works in recent independent music. This Thursday and Friday, the harp-strumming pitch-change artist Joanna Newsom will finish her worldwide orchestral tour with the help of the Brooklyn Philharmonic at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, where they'll perform her most recent album, Ys, along with selections from the earlier The Milk-Eyed Mender and a handful of new songs.

Ys, consisting of only five epically poetic tracks -- the shortest at 7 minutes, the longest at 17 -- is particularly suited to such a lush aural environment, and Newsom, whose vigorous vocal chords can twist even the most unassuming of syllables into an emotional plea, should flourish. "Then the system of strings tugs at the tip of my wings (cut from cardboard and old magazines); Makes me warble and rise, like a sparrow," she sings on "Sawdust and Diamonds." There's too much lyrical context to parse out here, but, typical of Newsom's musical dexterity, she could very well be describing the experience of seeing her sing it. --NICHOLAS MOSQUERA

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