Born in Glendale in 1966, attended Berklee College of Music, UCLA and USC where he studied the "History of Armenian Music". Also, he studied jazz with John Novello, a world acclaimed music educator, and learned improvisation from keyboardist, Chuck Wild of Missing Persons fame and composer of the Liquid Mind stress-relief music series. Soon, he found himself embarking on a successful career in Hollywood performing, composing and arranging for singer/songwriters with former Rick James' Stone City  Band members, Richard and Lorenzo Shaw.
Next up, Cahkmakian forms his own jazz/fusion ensemble whose members graduated to stellar careers playing for hitmakers such as Shadowfax, Strunz & Farah, Kitaro, Jon Anderson (from Yes). In 1991, the break of lifetime occurred when Armen joined the Grammy- Award winning band, Shadowfax as keyboardist. The  following year, the album "Esperanto" co-written by Chakmakian was nominated for a Grammy as Best New Age Album of 1992. Recording, co-writing and touring with Shadowfax over the next five years helped shape his signature keyboard styling.
In 1998, Armen founded TruArt records. Soon after, he released his debut solo album "Ceremonies" ,  is also featured on the hit European compilation CD  series "Buddha-Bar" I & IV, which have sold over 600,000 copies combined. Aside from being a solo artist, Armen enjoys playing in other groups and is currently performing with the prestigious Armen Folk Ensemble. Armen's track "A Time to Heal" was used by Martha Stewart for her public service announcement Children's Health Fund, and his southern rock tune "Love Way Down"  can be heard in Oscar-nominated film "Tumbleweeds" and it also appears on the soundtrack along with music legends Johnny Cash, Emmy Lou Harris, Lyle Lovett and Buck Owens.

Released works (Hermes Records) : Ceremonies