Dr Nanna Koch was born in Kaiserslautern. At the age of five, she received her first piano lessons at the Palatine Conservatory in Kaiserslautern, soon followed by violin lessons. After finishing school, she initially majored in piano (with Jean Micault) and violin (with Henri Lewkowicz) at the Musikhochschule Saarbrücken, but then decided in favour of the violin and continued her studies with Wolfgang Schneiderhan at the Musikhochschule Vienna (Diploma with distinction, 1986) and with Dorothy DeLay at the Juilliard School (Advanced Certificate, 1990). Within the framework of a scholarship from the Herbert von Karajan Foundation, she completed an internship with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra from 1987 to 1989. During this time she regularly played as a replacement under the direction of Herbert von Karajan, Claudio Abbado, Lorin Maazel, Seiji Ozawa and others.

1991-1992 Nanna Koch was third concertmaster with the Copenhagen Philharmonic Orchestra. Here she made her debut in 1992 with the Violin Concerto Op. 77 by J. Brahms under the direction of Frans Rasmussen. In 1992 she took over the position of deputy concertmaster of the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn. Since then she has toured worldwide with this orchestra, also as a soloist.

As a scholarship holder of the Herbert von Karajan Foundation, the German National Academic Foundation, the International Rotary Foundation Evanston, Illinois, and the Ida & Albert Flersheim Foundation, Lucerne, as well as prize-winner of the international competitions Città di Stresa (violin solo and piano solo) and Rodolfo Lipizer, Nanna Koch has been invited to festivals in Europe and the USA (Internationale Musikfestwochen Luzern, Schleswig-Holstein-Festival, Primavera Musicale di Vercelli, Bar Harbor Festival, Maine, Kammermusiksaal der Philharmonie Berlin). Concert recordings and studio recordings are available at Radio Bremen, WDR, SWR, SR, HR and BR. Her commitment to contemporary music was honoured in 2008 with the prize of the Förderkreis für Neue Musik Heilbronn e.V..

In addition to her work with the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra Heilbronn, Nanna Koch completed her doctoral studies in German and musicology at the University of Heidelberg in spring 2002 (doctoral mentor: Silke Leopold). Her dissertation "Konzertante Kuriositäten" on quintets by Domenico Dragonetti (1763-1846) was published by Peter Lang, and related practical editions by Doblinger. In 2003-2004 she wrote the programme texts for the subscription concerts of the Württemberg Chamber Orchestra. The Kleist Archive Sembdner, Heilbronn, engaged her for a series of lectures on Heinrich von Kleist in music.

In 2010, together with the clarinettist Ib Hausmann, she created the musical fairy tale "Der Spielmann" ("The Minstrel") based on Selma Lagerlöf and performed it around 30 times at schools in the Unterland region and at the Pädagogische Hochschule Ludwigsburg.

In December 2012, Nanna Koch participated in the anniversary concert of the Orchestra Academy of the Berlin Philharmonic under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle. This concert was recorded for the Digital Concert Hall of the Berliner Philharmoniker. In June 2015, Nanna Koch was elected as the first chairperson of the Förderkreis für Neue Musik Heilbronn e.V..