The Unfinished Symphony of Muralist Kent Twitchell : Art: The artist is painting likenesses of L.A. Chamber Orchestra musicians on the wall of a parking structure facing the Harbor Freeway.

By SHAUNA SNOW

Oct. 16, 1991 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

The Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra took to the street Tuesday to establish a new prominence in the city with the first portion of a huge downtown mural depicting most of the acclaimed orchestra’s 40 members.

Painted by famed Los Angeles muralist Kent Twitchell, the eight-story high “Harbor Freeway Overture” is planned to sprawl over at least four walls on the multi-sided parking structure at Citicorp Plaza, facing the northbound Harbor Freeway at 8th Street.

The mural will be the largest work ever produced by Twitchell, who has painted more than 20 major murals including the “L.A. Marathon Runners” along the northbound San Diego Freeway near LAX, “Ed Ruscha Monument” at the downtown corner of Olympic and Hill, and the famous “Old Lady of the Freeway” which loomed over the Hollywood Freeway near the Glendale Boulevard off-ramp until it was painted over in 1986.

Already two years in the planning stages, the mural will be completed in four phases, and Twitchell is aiming to complete the project in late 1992. Mitsubishi Electronics America is funding the $140,000 mural, Citicorp has donated the wall for the work, and Twitchell is donating his time, working for expenses only.

“As a muralist, I lust over things like this,” Twitchell said of the vastness of the 11,000-square-foot mural. “And the subject matter of classical musicians, it’s just really luxurious to be able to do something like this.”

The first portion of “Harbor Freeway Overture”--described by Twitchell as a “maniacally detailed” head and shoulder portrait of LACO concertmaster and first violinist Ralph Morrison--was unveiled at a press conference Tuesday. When the entire figure is completed, Morrison’s portrait will be 93 feet tall with 7-foot-long hands and a 3-foot-wide smile.

Eventually, Twitchell will fill in the building’s south and west walls with distinct, detailed portraits of about 34 other formally clad orchestra members, all standing behind Morrison and looking out at the viewer.

“Some of the figures will be playing, others will just be standing around holding their instruments,” said Twitchell. “I wanted it to be like they’re warming up backstage and you interrupted them . . . and no matter where you’re standing when you look at them, every single member of the orchestra will be looking right up into your eyes.”

Rather than paint directly on the mural’s 94-foot-tall walls, Twitchell is painting “Harbor Freeway Overture” in his studio, in 3-by-12-foot canvas panels that will be joined together and affixed to the wall with colorless, acrylic paint. Such a technique allows him to create “refined, museum quality paintings” as well as considerably speed up completion of the mammoth project, the artist noted.

Twitchell, who frequented classical music concerts in the mid-1960s when he was stationed in London as an Air Force illustrator, said he stopped attending such events when he returned to Los Angeles because he felt “a little bit intimidated” by the upper-class audience and what he referred to as the “caste system at the orchestra here.”

Such feelings are just what Twitchell and the 23-year-old orchestra hope to erase through the mural, which LACO Marketing Director George Sebastian said should “demystify and de-class classical music” and make viewers look at individual musicians as “friends” they will want to see perform.

The orchestra hopes the mural will help expand audiences by 20% to 30%, according to board member Tachi Kiuchi, who as chairman and CEO of Mitsubishi, arranged the funding package to produce the work.

Said the LACO’s Sebastian, referring to the fact that the orchestra does not have a “home” concert hall, but instead performs at various sites including UCLA’s Royce Hall, Pasadena’s Ambassador Auditorium, and the Orange County Performing Arts Center: “For me, this firmly establishes L.A. as our home. We don’t need a building--our art form is here to stay, and this captures the whole essence of our trying to bring the music out to the people, in their own neighborhoods.”

Said Twitchell: “These will be street musicians out there for everybody to enjoy. What this will do is bring all that elitist art out into the street.”