Joint programs between academic schools and music schools/conservatories are a relatively new type of program. There are many different kinds, but typically it consists of two things:
1) An academic school (i.e. Harvard, Yale, Columbia, etc.), where the student studies basically anything he or she wants.
2) A music school or conservatory, where the student simultaneously studies their preferred instrument, like the piano or violin.
The way the programs are set up can differ quite a bit. Some programs, like the joint program between Harvard and the New England Conservatory of Music, is a 5-year AB/MM program (the student ends up with a Bachelor’s degree in anything from Harvard, and a Masters Degree in Music from NEC). The student is full-time at Harvard studying anything he/she wants during Years 1-4, and is simultaneously taking weekly lessons (and doing some kind of orchestral thing if applicable to their instrument), and is also taking classes at Harvard that transfer to NEC and/or classes at NEC that count for the Master’s Degree. The student lives at and graduates from Harvard like all of their peers. During Year 5, they are full-time at NEC, and finish up their Master’s Degree there. All in all, this means that instead of taking 6 years, it takes only 5. Other AB/MM programs are often set up similarly, but may have different breakdowns of where/when the students attend each school.
Some programs are Double Bachelor programs, where the students end up with two Bachelor’s degrees at the end of their time.
Most types of joint programs are about 5 years in length, assuming the student doesn’t take off any time and is taking a full course-load.
These programs can be great for students who want to continue with their music, but also want a “fallback” or “backup” plan. Students interested in music but who have other interests as well may find these types of programs good too. It is also generally possible to study some type of music for the “academic” portion of the joint programs, at least for AB/MM joint programs.
Joint programs can be a great option that can combine two schools that excel in different aspects. For example, Harvard does not have a Music Performance program, but has great programs in, say, Economics. The New England Conservatory has great performance programs for many instruments, but does not have an Economics program. Under the AB/MM Joint Program, a student is able to major in Economics from Harvard while majoring in music at NEC, and ultimately ending up with a Bachelor’s from Harvard in Economics and a Master’s in Music from NEC in Piano Performance. Pretty cool!