In 1958 he won the American Opera Auditions,[3] which led to his European debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Milan as the Sacristan in Giacomo Puccini's Tosca in August of that year.
[5] In 1964 he was the bass soloist in the United States premiere of Marc-Antoine Charpentier's mass Assumpta est Maria with the New York Choral Society and conductor Martin Josman at The Town Hall.
[8] In June 1965 Boucher made his first appearance with the Metropolitan Opera as Baron Douphol in La traviata at Lewisohn Stadium with Anna Moffo as Violetta and George Schick conducting.
[9] The following September he made his first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera House as the Master of Ceremonies in Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's The Queen of Spades.
[10] He appeared in nearly fifty more roles with the Met over the next 20 consecutive seasons, including the Captain in Manon Lescaut, the Commissioner in Madama Butterfly, Count Ceprano in Rigoletto, Dancaïre in Carmen, Fiorello in The Barber of Seville, Fléville in Andrea Chénier, Haly in L'italiana in Algeri, Hermann in The Tales of Hoffmann, Javelinot in Dialogues des Carmélites, Jim Larkens in La fanciulla del West, Marco in Gianni Schicchi, Masetto in Don Giovanni, Ned Keene in Peter Grimes, Pâris in Roméo et Juliette, Ping in Turandot, Schaunard in La bohème, Sciarrone in Tosca, the Shepherd in Pelléas et Mélisande, Silvano in Un ballo in maschera, the Surgeon in La forza del destino, Wagner in Faust, and Zuàne in La Gioconda among others.