Martiki Yerge (Soldier's Song)

Artashes Avetyan was born in Tehran. He learned to play the guitar when he was 14. At school he had a band with whom he traveled to different cities in Iran to perform. His vocal teacher was dramatic tenor Aram Sargsyan. Artashes moved to Armenia in 1963. For 23 years he was a soloist at the Variety Symphony Orchestra of Radio and Television of Armenia, and for 5 years soloist at the Armenian State Orchestra directed by Konstantin Orbelyan. In 1990 he moved to the United States where he started playing in clubs and also printing books for Armenian schools.