The New York Philharmonic is Considering allowing female musicians to wear pants while playing Mozart and Tchaikovsky.

The New York Times reports that the 176-year-old orchestra has been quietly talking about relaxing its requirement that women wear floor-length black skirts or gowns at formal evening concerts.

The Philharmonic is alone among the 20 largest orchestras in the U.S. in not letting women wear pants at all performances.

Some musicians say wearing a dress is impractical when playing their instruments.  They cite the case of a English horn player who got one of the keys of her instrument stuck in the folds of her skirt while playing with the San Francisco Symphony in the 1980s

The San Francisco Symphony now gives women the option of wearing all-black dresses, long skirts or pantsuits.