In the wake of the San Bernadino shootings earlier this month, many public figures, presidential candidates among them, conveyed their “thoughts and prayers” for the victims. Commentator Steve Metcalf, former Hartford Courant classical music critic and now curator of the Richard P. Garmany Chamber Music Series, at the Hartt School, says at this point, even the people who utter those thoughts and prayers admit how tired and inadequate the statements can be.

I spend most of my life working with and among classical musicians. Lately I’ve been thinking: what if the classical musical community could find a way to offer a more concrete response — to be more of a presence — in the gun violence conversation? I realize that musicians often tend not to be political people. But they are usually sensible people. And on this topic, sensible is all we’re looking for. In any case, my thought is this: the major organizations representing the classical music world– would together craft a very simple and direct statement. The statement would be something like: “We deplore the growing gun violence in our country and we call on lawmakers at all levels to enact common-sense legislation that will make America safer for all of its citizens, including, and especially, our children.” The statement, then, would be issued by a newly minted entity to be called, let us say, Classical Musicians For Common Sense Gun Policy. This entity would basically just be a website and a Facebook page, to be administered in a few hours a week. And here’s the kicker: once the statement is drafted, printed concert programs from around the country could routinely begin to carry, at the bottom of the page, a line that said: The musicians in tonight’s concert support Classical Musicians For Common Sense Gun Policy, followed by the website. I know — this idea will not by itself be a game changer. It’s simply a gesture. But it looks like we’re going to need gestures — a lot of them — if we’re ever going to fix this. I tried this idea out on some musician friends. They liked it, but one of them said: what if there were a few players here and there who don’t actually endorse common sense gun policy? I hadn’t thought of that, but I think our response would be clear: We would keep them in our thoughts and prayers.