Lipinski Strad One Step Closer To Recovery Recovered

UPDATE: 12:00 noon CT: police news conference live telecast (FYI, a bit frustrating to watch with commercials and no firm broadcast time).

UPDATE 7:50am CT: the instrument has been reported as recovered and in good condition.

A major break in the Lipinski Stradivarius theft transpired yesterday afternoon with the arrest of three suspects ranging in age from 32 to 46. According to the 2/5/2014 edition of JSOnline.com in an article by Ashley Luthern, one of the suspects has a history of art theft and while the violin has yet to be recovered the arrests are a major turning point in the case.

ViolinAccording to Milwaukee Police Chief, Edward Flynn, there is “a good chance” the violin is still in Milwaukee and the police apparently uncovered the suspects due to a combination of information and physical evidence.

The JSOnline.com article provides additional optimism from FBI acting special-agent-in-charge, G.B. Jones, who was quoted saying that they are confident the suspects are responsible for the physical theft. In turn, it is highly likely that the suspects are also responsible for the deliberate attack on the instrument’s current custodian, Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concertmaster, Frank Almond.

Ideally, the suspects will provide authorities with enough information to recover the instrument by the weekend.

This post will be updated with any breaking news when/if it transpires.

About Drew McManus

"I hear that every time you show up to work with an orchestra, people get fired." Those were the first words out of an executive's mouth after her board chair introduced us. That executive is now a dear colleague and friend but the day that consulting contract began with her orchestra, she was convinced I was a hatchet-man brought in by the board to clean house.

I understand where the trepidation comes from as a great deal of my consulting and technology provider work for arts organizations involves due diligence, separating fact from fiction, interpreting spin, as well as performance review and oversight. So yes, sometimes that work results in one or two individuals "aggressively embracing career change" but far more often than not, it reinforces and clarifies exactly what works and why.

In short, it doesn't matter if you know where all the bodies are buried if you can't keep your own clients out of the ground, and I'm fortunate enough to say that for more than 15 years, I've done exactly that for groups of all budget size from Qatar to Kathmandu.

For fun, I write a daily blog about the orchestra business, provide a platform for arts insiders to speak their mind, keep track of what people in this business get paid, help write a satirical cartoon about orchestra life, hack the arts, and love a good coffee drink.

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