Drama, comedies, action, documentaries, animation, 20 to 25 short films and videos (one to 10 minutes) will be presented at the Student Film Festival at 7 p.m. Thursday in San Diego State University's Don Powell Theatre. The entries are from undergraduate and graduate students in the School of Theatre, Television and Film. Beginning at 5:30 p.m., prior to the screenings, there's an opportunity to meet the filmmakers and faculty members outside the Don Powell Theatre. Tickets: $10. Information: (619) 594-1375.

CLASSIC CONCERTO

On Christmas Eve of 1874, composer Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky showed his new Piano Concerto No. 1 to pianist Nikolai Rubinstein, only to have him reject it as “poorly composed and unplayable.” This weekend, veteran virtuoso Horacio Gutierrez will show just how wrong he was. He'll perform the glorious concerto with the San Diego Symphony on Friday, Saturday and Sunday during the season's closing concerts in the Jacobs' Masterworks Series at downtown's Copley Symphony Hall. (619) 235-0804 or sandiegosymphony.com

SNAKES WITH LEGS

“Holy Ghosts” has a spiffy pedigree – and not just because it's written by Romulus Linney (dad to fab actress Laura Linney). The play was the first to be produced, 22 years ago, in San Diego Rep's Lyceum Space; as directed by Doug Jacobs, it went on to a successful run in New York. Now, the Sullivan Players – led by the venerable local acting coach D.J. Sullivan – reacquaints San Diego with the earthy work about Pentecostal snake-handlers in the Deep South. The show runs Fridays and Saturday nights through May 24 (with a closing matinee May 25) at the Swedenborg Hall in University Heights; call (858) 274-1731.

GARDEN VARIETY

Every show by Manny Farber adds another remarkable installment to his remrkable body of work. He has long painted what he intimately knows: flowers from the garden outside his (and Patricia Patterson's) home, little notes he writes about this or that, and images from the art books on their shelves. For his new show at Quint Contemporary Art, “Drawing Across Time,” he's done 60 drawings of their garden and the walls that surround it. Looking at them, you feel his love for every aspect of this place. quintgallery.com or (858) 454-3409.

THE JIMI HENDRIX OF THE KORA

Raised in his native Guinea and now based in New Mexico, Prince Diabate performs an infectious blend of traditional West African griot music, reggae, rock and funk. Armed with a wireless electro-acoustic kora – a 21-stringed, lutelike instrument – he combines Old World charm and New World savvy. Diabate, who has collaborated with everyone from Ozomatli to symphony orchestras, plays Saturday night with his band at AcousticMusicSanDiego in Normal Heights. (619) 303-8176; AcousticMusicSanDiego.com

JAZZY HORN OF PLENTY

Former San Diego jazz trumpeter Brian Lynch is thriving in New York, where he leads his own group and is a key member in the bands of such legends as saxophonist Phil Woods and pianist Eddie Palmieri. A recent Grammy Award winner, Lynch is adept at combining bop, blues and modern jazz with a zesty array of Latin-jazz idioms. Expect sparks to fly when he and his trio perform Sunday night at Anthology in Little Italy. (619) 595-0300; anthologysd.com