<p>for Columbia-Juilliard, Harvard-NEC, Hopkins-Peabody, Oberlin College-Oberlin Conservatory the applications to each of the colleges and conservatories are entirely separate (different forms, different essays, vastly different admissions criteria) and acceptance is also separate, so you could be admitted to one or the other or both and not being accepted to one will not affect acceptance at the other. It is very possible to be admitted to Columbia and Juilliard and not the joint program, same with Harvard and NEC. But Columbia and Harvard students can take private lessons - and Columbia offers free lessons from a list of adjuncts; Harvard may subsidize the costs of lessons for some students.
Oberlin has a nonbinding early decision option at the conservatory (not the college, which has a binding early admission option).</p>