The Quey Percussion Duo has been following its own path while drawing inspiration from others.

Gene Koshinski and Tim Broscious started making music together about 20 years ago when both were students at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School of Music.

“We decided to do a percussion competition together and decided to continue playing together, not only because of how well we played together but because of our friendship,” Koshinski said during a phone interview in advance of the duo’s performance on Friday at Youngstown State University as part of the Pipino Performing Arts Series.

At the time, the repertoire for percussion duo was limited, and they started by doing a lot of the music performed by the Safri Duo.

“They were recording the same kind of music we were studying and interested in performing,” Koshinski said. “A lot of the programs we did early was a lot of their repertoire with some contemporary music by composers that were for percussion duo and a lot of the classical transcriptions they did.

“Since then, we’ve kind of developed our own style. We’re definitely a branch of that tree trunk, for sure, but we’re more interested in unique instrument combinations, unique sound worlds, interlocking counterpoint and that kind of thing. Early on what we were doing was a lot of marimba duo or typical drum set ups. Now it’s more eclectic and broad-based.”

In addition to writing new works, the duo started a contest inviting composers to create pieces that could be played by percussion duo.

The contest idea was inspired by marimba player Nancy Zeltsman, who started a similar type of contest to build the repertoire available for her marimba-and-violin duo. Since the Quey Percussion Duo started, it’s responsible for adding more than 200 works to the percussion duo canon between its own compositions and the contest submissions.

“We haven’t played all of those pieces, but we’ve played a few dozen of them, and some have been in our repertoire for many years,” Koshinski said. “Just that process has opened doors, not only those composers who contributed to those contests but also the composers we’ve met in the offshoots from there.”

The duo also has taken a different path in getting that music heard outside of live performances. While Koshinski has recorded and released some of his original compositions on CD and the duo has collaborated with other ensembles on recording projects, for most of its career Quey Percussion Duo relied on social media rather than physical media.

“We’ve created over 50 high-definition YouTube videos with more than 2.5 millions (combined) views,” Koshinski said. “We’ve reached a wider range for listeners and viewers through that than traditional recordings.”

The duo released its first album, “SoniChroma,” in 2019. The title track is a double concerto written by Koshinski for percussion and full orchestra that features more than 80 percussionists.

“I knew that needed to be something recorded,” Koshinski said. “It was a big undertaking for us, and we had a partner, a fabulous conductor Paul Hostettler, who was willing to record it, so we recorded that and filled out the record from there with other pieces we’ve had in the collection for a while.”

In addition to teaching at the University of Delaware and participating in masterclasses and percussion clinics as part of their touring schedule, Koshinski and Broscious continue to expand their own knowledge.

The duo will spend a week in Spain later this year studying Txalaparta, which Koshinski described as, “drumming with sticks on a board in a really fast, interlocking pocketed style. We’ve been interested in this music for a long time, and a lot of our music mimics this style. Study might unlock some doors and windows for us. We’re excited to see what that brings.”

That constant study and exploration creates a live performance that Koshinski believes has broad appeal.

“I think we appeal to a wide range of audience members, not just the typical conservatory or music school crowd. I do feel that community really enjoys what we do, but we also appeal to anyone who really loves music and especially loves percussion. People who are used to string quartets and orchestral music are not sure what they might get when they come to one of our concerts, but they’re really surprised and enjoy what they see, and it’s not different from those environments.”

If you go …

WHAT: Pipino Performing Arts Series – Quey Percussion Duo

WHEN: 7 p.m. Friday

WHERE: Ford Theater, Bliss Hall, Youngstown State University

HOW MUCH: $15 for adults, $10 for senior citizens and YSU faculty, staff and alumni, $5 for youth and free for YSU students and children ages 12 and younger. www.ysu.tix.com.