To follow up Harold Schonberg's chapter on "Composers at the Keyboard", I've looked in to some of the music of Albéniz(1860-1909). The Spanish Composer and Pianist has quite the childhood in Mr. Schonberg's book.
Reportedly at the age of 12, he jumped on the train in the opposite direction of home, playing some concerts near a seaport, before joining a ship crew en route to Puerto Rico.
From penniless to having some musical success, he made his way to through South America, before sailing to Cuba. It was there where his father learned of his whereabouts and had him taken in to custody in Havana.
Reunited, the boy talked his father out of him going back to Europe. Instead, he continued to play his way until he was in San Fransisco at the age of 14. Eventually he was back in Europe and taking lessons with Carl Reinecke.
What a fantastic story, and while Wikipedia's post (of all places) cast doubt on this story. Albéniz was clearly a prolific child performer, often exploited by his parents to the point that he ran away often. It seems that he may have been with his father (whom worked as a customs agent) for many of these concert tours.
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