Irma Schaichet, maiden name Löwinger, was born in Budapest on 15 April 1895 as the fourth of six children. In 1901 she was admitted to the Royal Hungarian Academy of Music (now the Franz Liszt Academy of Music). After receiving her teaching diploma, she attended concert training with Béla Bartók and successfully completed the program in 1917 with the concert diploma.

In 1917 Irma Löwinger received a one-year scholarship to continue her studies with Ferruccio Busoni in Zurich. There she lived in the same pension as Russian violinist Alexander Schaichet, who was unable to return to Jena after the outbreak of World War I, where he taught at the Musikhochschule and was assistant conductor of the Collegium Musicum. In 1919 the couple married and their union resulted in three children Mirjam, Peter, and Vera.

Irma Schaichet regularly performed concerts, making a name for herself at home as well as abroad as a pianist and music instructor. Together with Alexander Schaichet, they performed duets in Switzerland. She also played periodically with his Chamber Orchestra Zurich from 1920 to 1943. Further duet partners were Szimon Goldberg (violin) and Joachim Stutschewsky (cello) as well as Frédéric Mottier (cello). Irma Schaichet also gave concerts under conductors Volkmar Andreae, Hermann Scherchen, Erich Schmid, Georg Solti, and Felix Weingartner. She cultivated a broad repertoire of composers from the era of Bach to contemporary classical music. Special attention was given to the Hungarian composers Franz Liszt, Zoltán Kodály and Béla Bartók. Shortly after its premiere, she performed Bartók’s Sonata for two pianos and percussion with Georg Solti in Zurich in 1938. She also cultivated Swiss composers, performing world premieres of works by Willy Burkhard, Charles Oboussier, Robert Blum, and Albert Moeschinger.

Irma Schaichet was a highly sought-after music instructor. She privately trained many professional musicians. Among her discoveries are the pianist prodigy Annie Fischer and the soprano Maria Stader. Her most significant students include Theodor Lichtmann, Hanny Schmid Wyss, and Brigitte Farner as well as the Zurich jazz musician Dieter Ulrich.

In 1984 Irma Schaichet received an additional honorary diploma from the Franz Liszt Academy Budapest for her artistic and pedagogical work. In 1985 the Presidential Department of the City of Zurich, in cooperation with Omanut (Association for the Promotion of Jewish Art in Switzerland), organized a celebration for her 90th birthday on May 7th in the Zurich city capitol building around the theme "Piano Music from East and West". The tribute to Irma Schaichet as a pianist and music instructor was delivered by then president of the city council, Dr. Thomas Wagner.

Irma Schaichet died on 30 July 1988 at the distinguished age of 93, 24 years after the death of her husband and musical companion Alexander Schaichet.