Pandit Ramchandra Janthalli was born on 10th December, 1923 in Sheshgiri village of Hangal taluk.
His father, Gayanacharya Pt. Shankar Dixit Janthalli, a disciple of Pt.Bhaskar Bua Bakhle and Pt.Balkrishna Bua Ichalkaranjikar, was one of the early propogators of Hindustani Classical music in the Dharwad district. On Pt.Panchakshari Gawai's advice, Shankarji shifted from Hangal to Hubli in 1939 and started the 'Sri Shankar Sangeet Vidyalaya' at Bakhle galli.
Ramchandraji's lessons in music started at a very young age under the able guidance of his father.
On finishing his graduation, he joined for a job at Indian Railways.
Captivated by the essence of Raag Sangeet, he used to say "A job for earning a living and a tanpura for life." Assisting his father in running 'Sri Shankar Sangeet Vidyalaya', he enthused many youngsters to gain interest in and take up classical music. His singing clearly highlighed the specialities of the Gwalior Gharana gayaki. He carried with him a goal of compiling and presenting the best Bandishes in any raag. In 1950, Dharwad Akashvani broadcasted his recital. An LP recording was initiated by the HMV company.
Ramchandraji's wife, Smt.Vasanta Devi, daughter of Sri D K Bharadwaj (known for his Kannada-English dictionary ), was proficient in Hindustani Vocal, Carnatic Vocal and Veena. Together, they carried forward Shankarji's work through the 'Sri Shankar Sangeet Vidyalaya' and the 'Sri Shankar Dixit Art Circle.'
Numerous awards and accolades were showered on Ramchandraji for his unparalleled work in promoting HCM, such as the 'Karnataka Kala Tilaka' by the Sangeeta Nritya Academy, the 'Gangubai Hangal Award', etc.
Ramchandraji taught many disciples, some of whom are renowned performers today, like - Anuradha Dhareshwar, Sheshgiri Gudi, Raghavendra Gudi, Sarojini Chandavarkar, Indumati Tamhankar, Yamuna Tembe, Suman Nagarkatti, Veena Shirali, Kusuma Kulkarni, Radhika Bhat, Shyamala Kulkarni, etc.
Pt. Ramchandra Janthalli passed away on July 17th, 1999, his musical legacy - a vast treasure trove of Hindustani Classical Music to be explored, learnt from and imbibed.