Concert Violinist Leia Zhu, 19, Elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts

Concert violinist and civic advocate Leia Zhu has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA).

Founded in 1754, the RSA brings together individuals whose work contributes to social progress across the arts, commerce, education and civic life. Leia's election recognises a body of work that spans international concert performance, financial services and the cultural life of the City of London.

Commenting on the Fellowship, Leia said:

It is a real honour to join an institution with such a long civic and intellectual history. The RSA has, for more than 270 years, explored how culture, commerce and public life shape one another. These questions sit at the centre of my own work, as a musician and in the institutions we are now building in London.

I look forward to contributing to the Fellowship community.

The Fellowship follows a series of notable milestones for Leia in 2026. In April, she received the Freedom of the City of London through the Worshipful Company of International Bankers and was appointed to the Young Professionals Network Committee of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment.

Leia has been represented by HarrisonParrott since 2019, having signed with the agency at the age of twelve during its fiftieth-anniversary season. Alongside her international performing career, she is also Co-Founder of Culture Meets Capital, a new institution exploring the relationship between culture, capital and civic life in the United Kingdom.

She joins a global RSA Fellowship of approximately 32,000 people and is believed to be among the youngest concert musicians in the United Kingdom currently to hold the distinction.